ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Senate hopeful Joe Miller says he has given up trying to block the state of Alaska from certifying the reelection of Lisa Murkowski but will press ahead with a federal court challenge.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R), U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (2nd R), and U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg (3rd R) talk after meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama and a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators to discuss passing comprehensive energy and climate legislation in Washington in this June 29, 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Larry Downing
Murkowski lost to Tea Party movement-backed candidate Miller in the Republican primary last summer, then fought her way back with an extraordinary write-in campaign, beating her challenger in the November 2 general election by 10,000 votes, or 4.5 percent of the total cast.
But a formal state declaration of Murkowski’s victory, clearing the way for her to be sworn in to a second full term as senator, was blocked by a federal judge while Miller contested the outcome in state court.
He has claimed that some 8,000 votes counted for Murkowski should be disqualified because of spelling errors, poor penmanship, abbreviations, and other minor flaws. He also called for a full recount by hand, saying closer scrutiny of the ballots would reveal an unspecified number of fraudulent votes.
However, Miller exhausted his state judicial appeals last week when the Alaska Supreme Court tossed out his lawsuit, setting the stage for Murkowski to be certified the winner.
U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline has said he would remove his federal court injunction against certification once Miller’s suit had run its course in state court.
Lifting of the injunction, seen as a virtual formality, is expected by Wednesday, the state’s deadline for responding to the revised complaint Miller filed with Beistline on Monday.
On Sunday night, Miller posted a statement on his website saying he was dropping his opposition to certification of the election but would instead continue to contest the results after the fact in federal court.
“This decision will allow Alaskans to focus on bringing fairness and transparency to our elections process without distraction of the certification issue,” Miller said.
Murkowski’s presumed victory would mark the first successful write-in campaign waged for a U.S. Senate seat since 1954 and the last race of the 2010 congressional midterm elections to be formally decided.
The result does not alter the partisan makeup of the Senate, as both Murkowski and Miller are Republicans. But Murkowski proved a swing vote on some high-profile issues during the recent “lame-duck” session of Congress, deserting the Republican leadership to vote with the Democrats.
Editing by Steve Gorman and Jerry Norton
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