United States Senate election in Alaska, 2010
Encyclopedia
The 2010 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 2, 2010, alongside 33 other U.S. Senate elections in other states, as well as elections in all states for Representatives to the U.S. House
, and various state and local offices.
The November general election in Alaska was preceded by primary election
s which were held on August 24, 2010. Scott McAdams
, the Mayor of Sitka, became the Democratic Party
nominee for U.S. Senate after winning the largest number of votes of any Democrat in the open primary
(any registered Alaska voter can vote this ballot, regardless of party registration). Joe Miller, an attorney and former federal magistrate, became the Republican nominee after defeating incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski
in the closed Republican
primary, (voters must be registered as Republicans, Nonpartisan, or Undeclared, in order to vote for Republican candidates). Miller was endorsed by the Tea Party movement
and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
. Murkowski announced that regardless of her defeat in the primary, she would run in the general election as a write-in candidate
.
Murkowski garnered more than 100,000 write-in votes in the general election, 8,000 of which were challenged by Miller for various errors including minor misspellings. Even if the challenged votes were all thrown out, Murkowski still had a lead of over 2,100 votes when the counting was done. The Associated Press
and the Alaska GOP called the race in Murkowski's favor on November 17, and Murkowski proclaimed herself the winner on November 18. Miller did not concede the race and instead filed legal challenges which stopped the Alaska Division of Elections from certifying Murkowski as the winner. On December 10, the Alaska Superior Court
in Juneau rejected Miller's State law claims, ruling that Alaska statutes and case law do not require perfect spelling on write-in ballots if voter intent is clear. The Superior Court judge also dismissed Miller's claims of vote fraud as based on speculation. Miller has appealed the ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court
, citing a provision in the Alaska election statute that says there shall be "no exceptions" to the rules for counting ballots, and arguing that therefore, all ballots with misspellings or other deviations should be thrown out. The court is expected to hear oral arguments on December 17. Miller also has a pending case in federal court raising U.S. constitutional claims that the Elections and the Due Process Clauses were violated by State election authorities; the federal court may consider the claims once Miller's State court options are exhausted.
On December 30, 2010, Alaska state officials certified the election of Lisa Murkowski as the winner of the Senatorial election, making her the first U.S. Senate candidate to win election via write-in since Strom Thurmond
in 1954. On December 31 Miller announced at a news conference in Anchorage that he was conceding.
ballot for Democrats, Libertarians, the Alaska Independence Party, and all other declared or write-in candidates.
Joe Miller
floated the possibility of offering Murkowski its nomination; the Murkowski campaign said it would not rule out a third party run, and Murkowski said it was too premature. But on August 29, 2010, the executive board of the state Libertarian Party voted not to consider allowing Murkowski on its ticket for the U.S. Senate race. When asked about a write-in candidacy at that time, she said it was "high risk". By September 7 though, she said that she was weighing the option of mounting a write-in campaign. On September 13 Libertarian candidate David Haase reiterated that he would not stand down and let Murkowski replace him on the ballot. Murkowski announced on September 17 that she would enter the general election contest as a write-in candidate, saying she had agonized over the decision, but had been encouraged to run by many voters.
conceded the Republican primary to Joe Miller, Scott McAdams
raised over $128,000 through ActBlue
, and a private fundraiser at the home of Alaskan State Senator Hollis French
raised about $19,000.
Miller received negative press in mid-October 2010 when his campaign's security guards made a private arrest of a journalist
who was persistently questioning Miller about his record as a government employee. Tony Hopfinger, of the Alaska Dispatch was detained and handcuffed until Anchorage police arrived and released him following a townhall event featuring Miller. No charges were filed. Though the campaign event was open to the general public and held at a public school, the security firm said it had detained the journalist because he had been trespassing and had shoved a man while attempting to question Miller.
On October 20, during early voting, a voter in Homer
photographed a list of write-in candidates that was posted inside a voting booth, which raised the issue of whether the state should be posting, or even providing such a list. A lawsuit was filed alleging that the Alaska Division of Elections was violating AAC, 25.070, which reads in part: "Information regarding a write-in candidate may not be discussed, exhibited or provided at the polling place, or within 200 feet of any entrance to the polling place, on election day." Both Republican and Democratic spokespersons decried the lists as electioneering on behalf of Murkowski; representatives of the Division of Elections maintained that the lists were intended merely to assist voters. On October 27 a judge issued a restraining order barring the lists, noting in his decision "If it were important 'assistance' for the Division to provide voters with lists of write-in candidates, then the Division has been asleep at the switch for the past 50 years, the Division first developed the need for a write-in candidate list 12 days ago." Later on the same day, the Alaska Supreme Court
ruled that the lists could be distributed to those who asked for them, but that any ballots cast by voters based on information on the lists be "segregated". The Division of Elections responded that they had neither the manpower nor the time to implement such a system by Election Day. By the deadline for registering as a write-in candidate, more than 150 Alaskans had submitted their names as candidates for the U.S. Senate seat, encouraged by an Anchorage talk radio host.
In the election, the total number of write-in votes statewide were counted first, then all the write-in ballots were sent to Juneau to the Division of Elections to be individually examined to see the what names were written on them.
* Lisa Murkowski lost Republican nomination and runs as a Republican during her write-in bid.
{| class="navbox collapsible collapsed" style="text-align:left; border:0; margin-top:0.2em;"
|-
! style="background:#cff; font-weight:normal;"|
Hypothetical polling numbers in a two-way race between Joe Miller (R) and Scott McAdams (D)
|-
| style="border:solid 1px silver; padding:8px; background:white;"|
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|- valign=bottom
! style="width:135px;"| Poll source
! style="width:130px;"| Dates administered
! style="width:130px;"| Joe Miller (R)
! style="width:130px;"| Scott McAdams (D)
|-
| align=center| Rasmussen Reports
| align=center| August 31, 2010
| align=center| 50%
| align=center| 44%
|-
| align=center| Basswood Research
| align=center| August 28–29, 2010
| align=center| 52%
| align=center| 36%
|-
| align=center| Public Policy Polling
| align=center| August 27–28, 2010
| align=center| 47%
| align=center| 39%
|}
{| class="navbox collapsible collapsed" style="text-align:left; border:0; margin-top:0.2em;"
|-
! style="background:#cff; font-weight:normal;"|
Hypothetical polling numbers with Lisa Murkowski as a Libertarian
|-
| style="border:solid 1px silver; padding:8px; background:white;"|
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|- valign=bottom
! style="width:135px;"| Poll source
! style="width:130px;"| Dates administered
! style="width:130px;"| Joe Miller (R)
! style="width:130px;"| Lisa Murkowski (L)
! style="width:130px;"| Scott McAdams (D)
|-
| align=center| Dittman Research
| align=center| August 30, 2010
| align=center| 31%
| align=center| 37%
| align=center| 19%
|-
| align=center| Public Policy Polling
| align=center| August 27–28, 2010
| align=center| 38%
| align=center| 34%
| align=center| 22%
|}
|-
! Candidate (party)
! Receipts
! Disbursements
! Cash on hand
! Debt
|-
| | Joe Miller (R)
| $1,980,296
| $1,331,859
| $647,934
| $341
|-
| | Scott McAdams (D)
| $861,121
| $587,639
| $273,480
| $0
|-
| | Lisa Murkowski (R-Write-in)
| $3,416,929
| $3,005,107
| $773,826
| $0
|- align=center
| colspan="5" | Source: Federal Election Commission
|}
supports this practice. The Miller campaign had observers present who challenged ballots which misspelled "Murkowski", or which included the word "Republican" next to Murkowski's name. The Anchorage Daily News noted on November 11 that the bulk of the challenged ballots contained misspellings but examples were not hard to find of challenged ballots that appeared to be "spelled accurately and looked to be filled out properly".
After several days of counting, the Division of Elections showed Murkowski with a lead of some 1,700 votes over Miller, with about 8,000 write-in votes yet to be counted, and a trend of counting 97 percent of the write-ins as for Murkowski. Murkowski's campaign shied away from declaring a victory before the count was finished. As of November 17, (the last day of the hand count), the Division of Elections showed Murkowski having a lead of over 10,000 votes, meaning that even if all the 8,000 challenged ballots were discounted, Murkowski would still lead by about 2,200 votes. The Miller campaign then demanded a hand recount of the entire election, claiming that as Murkowski's votes were all verified by visual inspection Miller should get the same opportunity. The Division of Election officials responded that any recount of non-write-in votes would not be done by hand, but would be done using optical scanners.
of the 14th Amendment by using a voter intent standard that allowed misspelled write-in votes to count. The federal court allowed the counting to proceed as the challenged ballots were segregated from the others and could be re-examined later, if necessary. After hearing motions and arguments from both sides, the federal court abstained from hearing the case, ruling that the dispute could be resolved by the State courts by reference to State law. The federal court kept the case in its docket in the event that federal issues still remained after the State courts' determination. The federal court also put a halt to the certification of the election pending rulings on Miller's lawsuits. Miller then filed suit in State court, repeating the claims he had previously made, and adding allegations of vote fraud and bias. On December 10, the Alaska Superior Court
rejected all of Miller's claims as contrary to State statute and case law, and said the fraud claims were unsubstantiated. Miller has appealed the Superior Court ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court
, citing a provision in the Alaska election statute that says there shall be "no exceptions" to the rules for counting ballots, and that therefore, all ballots with misspellings or other deviations should be thrown out. The court is expected to hear oral arguments on December 17. On December 22, the Alaska Supreme Court upheld a lower courts ruling dismissing Miller's claims. On December 26, Miller announced that he would be withdrawing his opposition for Murkowski's senate certification, but would continue pursuing the federal case. On December 31 Miller announced at a news conference in Anchorage that he was conceding.
|- style="background:#e9e9e9;"
! colspan="4" | Write In Totals (100% Precincts reporting)
|- style="background:#eee; text-align:center;"
! style="width: 25em" |Candidate
! style="width: 5em" |Votes
! style="width: 7em" |Percentage
|-
| Lisa Murkowski
(Unchallenged)
| style="text-align:right;"| 92,929
| style="text-align:right;"| 89.52%
|-
| Lisa Murkowski
(Challenged counted)
| style="text-align:right;"| 8,159
| style="text-align:right;"| 7.86%
|-
|Lisa Murkowski
(Challenged not counted)
| style="text-align:right;"| 2,016
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.94%
|-
| Misc. Names
| style="text-align:right;"| 620
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.60%
|-
| Joe Miller
| style="text-align:right;"| 20
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.02%
|-
| Sid Hill
| style="text-align:right;"| 13
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.01%
|-
| Scott McAdams
| style="text-align:right;"| 8
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.01%
|-
| Lisa M. Lackey
| style="text-align:right;"| 2
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.00%
|-
| All other write-in candidates
| style="text-align:right;"| 40
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.04%
|- style="background:#eee; text-align:right;"
|| Totals
|| 103,805
|| 100.00%
|}
Debates
Official campaign websites
United States House of Representatives elections, 2010
The 2010 United States House of Representatives elections, also known as the 2010 midterm elections, were held on November 2, 2010, at the midpoint of President Barack Obama's first term in office. Voters of the 50 U.S. states chose 435 U.S. Representatives. Voters of the U.S...
, and various state and local offices.
The November general election in Alaska was preceded by primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
s which were held on August 24, 2010. Scott McAdams
Scott McAdams
Scott T. McAdams is an Alaskan politician. He has served as a school board member and mayor of Sitka, Alaska and came in third against Joe Miller and Lisa Murkowski in the 2010 US senator's race after running for and winning the Democratic Party's nomination for the United States Senate seat held...
, the Mayor of Sitka, became the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nominee for U.S. Senate after winning the largest number of votes of any Democrat in the open primary
Open primary
An open primary is a primary election that does not require voters to be affiliated with a political party in order to vote for partisan candidates. In a traditional open primary, voters may select one party's ballot and vote for that party's nomination. As in a closed primary, the highest voted...
(any registered Alaska voter can vote this ballot, regardless of party registration). Joe Miller, an attorney and former federal magistrate, became the Republican nominee after defeating incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski. After losing a Republican primary in 2010, she became the second person ever to win a U.S...
in the closed Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
primary, (voters must be registered as Republicans, Nonpartisan, or Undeclared, in order to vote for Republican candidates). Miller was endorsed by the Tea Party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
. Murkowski announced that regardless of her defeat in the primary, she would run in the general election as a write-in candidate
Write-in candidate
A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu...
.
Murkowski garnered more than 100,000 write-in votes in the general election, 8,000 of which were challenged by Miller for various errors including minor misspellings. Even if the challenged votes were all thrown out, Murkowski still had a lead of over 2,100 votes when the counting was done. The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
and the Alaska GOP called the race in Murkowski's favor on November 17, and Murkowski proclaimed herself the winner on November 18. Miller did not concede the race and instead filed legal challenges which stopped the Alaska Division of Elections from certifying Murkowski as the winner. On December 10, the Alaska Superior Court
Alaska Court System
The Alaska Court System is the unified, centrally administered, and totally state-funded judicial system for the State of Alaska. It has four levels of state courts: the Alaska Supreme Court, the Alaska Court of Appeals, the Alaska Superior Court, and the Alaska District Court...
in Juneau rejected Miller's State law claims, ruling that Alaska statutes and case law do not require perfect spelling on write-in ballots if voter intent is clear. The Superior Court judge also dismissed Miller's claims of vote fraud as based on speculation. Miller has appealed the ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court
Alaska Supreme Court
The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court in the State of Alaska's judicial department . The supreme court is composed of the chief justice and four associate justices, who are all appointed by the governor of Alaska and face judicial retention elections and who choose one of their own...
, citing a provision in the Alaska election statute that says there shall be "no exceptions" to the rules for counting ballots, and arguing that therefore, all ballots with misspellings or other deviations should be thrown out. The court is expected to hear oral arguments on December 17. Miller also has a pending case in federal court raising U.S. constitutional claims that the Elections and the Due Process Clauses were violated by State election authorities; the federal court may consider the claims once Miller's State court options are exhausted.
On December 30, 2010, Alaska state officials certified the election of Lisa Murkowski as the winner of the Senatorial election, making her the first U.S. Senate candidate to win election via write-in since Strom Thurmond
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...
in 1954. On December 31 Miller announced at a news conference in Anchorage that he was conceding.
Primary systems
Alaska's primary elections consist of a closed primary ballot for voters that have declared themselves as Republicans and an open primaryOpen primary
An open primary is a primary election that does not require voters to be affiliated with a political party in order to vote for partisan candidates. In a traditional open primary, voters may select one party's ballot and vote for that party's nomination. As in a closed primary, the highest voted...
ballot for Democrats, Libertarians, the Alaska Independence Party, and all other declared or write-in candidates.
Candidates
- David Haase (L)
- Jacob Seth Kern (D)
- Scott McAdamsScott McAdamsScott T. McAdams is an Alaskan politician. He has served as a school board member and mayor of Sitka, Alaska and came in third against Joe Miller and Lisa Murkowski in the 2010 US senator's race after running for and winning the Democratic Party's nomination for the United States Senate seat held...
(D), mayor of Sitka - Frank Vondersaar (D), perennial candidatePerennial candidateA perennial candidate is one who frequently runs for public office with a record of success that is infrequent, if existent at all. Perennial candidates are often either members of minority political parties or have political opinions that are not mainstream. They may run without any serious hope...
Results
Candidates
- Lisa MurkowskiLisa MurkowskiLisa Ann Murkowski is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski. After losing a Republican primary in 2010, she became the second person ever to win a U.S...
, incumbent U.S. Senator - Joe Miller, former U.S. magistrate judgeUnited States magistrate judgeIn the United States federal courts, magistrate judges are appointed to assist United States district court judges in the performance of their duties...
Endorsements
Lisa MurkowskiState/local level positions (State Senators, Governors, etc.) |
|---|
Federal level positions (President, U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives, cabinet members, etc.) |
|---|
Other |
|---|
Joe Miller
State/local level positions (State Senators, Governors, etc.) |
|---|
Federal level positions (President, U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives, cabinet members, etc.) |
|---|
Other |
|---|
Polling
| Poll source | Dates administered | Lisa Murkowski | Joe Miller |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moore Research | July 25, 2010 | 62% | 30% |
Results
Murkowski conceded the primary race to Joe Miller on August 31, 2010.Aftermath
When it began to appear that Miller had won the primary, the Libertarian PartyLibertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
floated the possibility of offering Murkowski its nomination; the Murkowski campaign said it would not rule out a third party run, and Murkowski said it was too premature. But on August 29, 2010, the executive board of the state Libertarian Party voted not to consider allowing Murkowski on its ticket for the U.S. Senate race. When asked about a write-in candidacy at that time, she said it was "high risk". By September 7 though, she said that she was weighing the option of mounting a write-in campaign. On September 13 Libertarian candidate David Haase reiterated that he would not stand down and let Murkowski replace him on the ballot. Murkowski announced on September 17 that she would enter the general election contest as a write-in candidate, saying she had agonized over the decision, but had been encouraged to run by many voters.
Candidates
- Timothy Carter (I)
- Ted Gianoutsos (I)
- David Haase (L), 2008United States Senate election in Alaska, 2008The 2008 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Ted Stevens ran for re-election. It was one of the ten Senate races that U.S. Senator John Ensign of Nevada, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, predicted as...
U.S. Senate candidate - Scott McAdamsScott McAdamsScott T. McAdams is an Alaskan politician. He has served as a school board member and mayor of Sitka, Alaska and came in third against Joe Miller and Lisa Murkowski in the 2010 US senator's race after running for and winning the Democratic Party's nomination for the United States Senate seat held...
(D), Mayor of Sitka - Joe Miller (R), former U.S. magistrate judgeUnited States magistrate judgeIn the United States federal courts, magistrate judges are appointed to assist United States district court judges in the performance of their duties...
- Lisa MurkowskiLisa MurkowskiLisa Ann Murkowski is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski. After losing a Republican primary in 2010, she became the second person ever to win a U.S...
(R), incumbent Republican Senator (write-in candidate)
Campaign
After Lisa MurkowskiLisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski. After losing a Republican primary in 2010, she became the second person ever to win a U.S...
conceded the Republican primary to Joe Miller, Scott McAdams
Scott McAdams
Scott T. McAdams is an Alaskan politician. He has served as a school board member and mayor of Sitka, Alaska and came in third against Joe Miller and Lisa Murkowski in the 2010 US senator's race after running for and winning the Democratic Party's nomination for the United States Senate seat held...
raised over $128,000 through ActBlue
ActBlue
ActBlue is a United States political committee established in June 2004 that enables anyone to fundraise on the Internet for the Democratic Party candidates of their choice....
, and a private fundraiser at the home of Alaskan State Senator Hollis French
Hollis French
Hollis S. French II is a Democratic member of the Alaska Senate, representing the M district since 2003. The district covers the East Spenard and Turnagain/Inlet View areas of Anchorage. He is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee....
raised about $19,000.
Miller received negative press in mid-October 2010 when his campaign's security guards made a private arrest of a journalist
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
who was persistently questioning Miller about his record as a government employee. Tony Hopfinger, of the Alaska Dispatch was detained and handcuffed until Anchorage police arrived and released him following a townhall event featuring Miller. No charges were filed. Though the campaign event was open to the general public and held at a public school, the security firm said it had detained the journalist because he had been trespassing and had shoved a man while attempting to question Miller.
On October 20, during early voting, a voter in Homer
Homer, Alaska
Homer is a city located in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population was 5,364. One of Homer's nicknames is "the cosmic hamlet by the sea"; another is "the end of the road"...
photographed a list of write-in candidates that was posted inside a voting booth, which raised the issue of whether the state should be posting, or even providing such a list. A lawsuit was filed alleging that the Alaska Division of Elections was violating AAC, 25.070, which reads in part: "Information regarding a write-in candidate may not be discussed, exhibited or provided at the polling place, or within 200 feet of any entrance to the polling place, on election day." Both Republican and Democratic spokespersons decried the lists as electioneering on behalf of Murkowski; representatives of the Division of Elections maintained that the lists were intended merely to assist voters. On October 27 a judge issued a restraining order barring the lists, noting in his decision "If it were important 'assistance' for the Division to provide voters with lists of write-in candidates, then the Division has been asleep at the switch for the past 50 years, the Division first developed the need for a write-in candidate list 12 days ago." Later on the same day, the Alaska Supreme Court
Alaska Supreme Court
The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court in the State of Alaska's judicial department . The supreme court is composed of the chief justice and four associate justices, who are all appointed by the governor of Alaska and face judicial retention elections and who choose one of their own...
ruled that the lists could be distributed to those who asked for them, but that any ballots cast by voters based on information on the lists be "segregated". The Division of Elections responded that they had neither the manpower nor the time to implement such a system by Election Day. By the deadline for registering as a write-in candidate, more than 150 Alaskans had submitted their names as candidates for the U.S. Senate seat, encouraged by an Anchorage talk radio host.
In the election, the total number of write-in votes statewide were counted first, then all the write-in ballots were sent to Juneau to the Division of Elections to be individually examined to see the what names were written on them.
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| RealClearPolitics RealClearPolitics RealClearPolitics is a political news and polling data aggregator based in Chicago, Illinois. The site's founders say their goal is to give readers "ideological diversity." They have described themselves as frustrated with what they perceive as anti-conservative, anti-Christian media bias, and... |
Likely R | October 30, 2010 |
| Rasmussen Reports Rasmussen Reports Rasmussen Reports is an American media company that publishes and distributes information based on public opinion polling. Founded by pollster Scott Rasmussen in 2003, the company updates daily indexes including the President's job approval rating, and provides public opinion data, analysis, and... |
Leans R | September 1, 2010 |
| Cook Political Report Cook Political Report The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, Governor's offices and the American Presidency. The Cook Political Report is led by a staff of five... |
Likely R | October 24, 2010 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball Sabato's Crystal Ball Sabato’s Crystal Ball is a free, nonpartisan weekly online newsletter and comprehensive website in the United States that analyzes the current American political scene and predicts electoral outcomes for U.S House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, governors, and U.S. president races... |
Likely R | October 21, 2010 |
| CQ Politics Congressional Quarterly Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is a privately owned publishing company that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress... |
Likely R | October 24, 2010 |
| Rothenberg Stuart Rothenberg Stuart Rothenberg is an American editor, publisher, and political analyst best known for his Washington-based, biweekly, self-proclaimed non-partisan political newsletter The Rothenberg Political Report... |
Safe R | October 22, 2010 |
| Electoral-vote.com Electoral-vote.com Electoral-Vote.com is the website of computer scientist Andrew S. Tanenbaum. The site's primary content is poll analysis to project the outcome of U.S. elections. The site also includes commentary on related news stories. Well known for its color-coded electoral map of the United States, the... |
Strong I | October 30, 2010 |
| New York Times | Leaning R | October 24, 2010 |
Polling
| Poll source | Dates administered | Joe Miller (R) | Lisa Murkowski (R) write-in candidate * |
Scott McAdams (D) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Polling | October 30–31, 2010 | 37% | 30% | 30% |
| CNN/Time/Opinion Research | October 15–19, 2010 | 37% | 37% | 23% |
| Public Policy Polling | October 9–10, 2010 | 35% | 33% | 26% |
| CNN/Time/Opinion Research | September 24–28, 2010 | 38% | 36% | 22% |
| Moore Research | September 23–27, 2010 | 43% | 18% | 28% |
| Rasmussen Reports | September 19, 2010 | 42% | 27% | 25% |
{| class="navbox collapsible collapsed" style="text-align:left; border:0; margin-top:0.2em;"
|-
! style="background:#cff; font-weight:normal;"|
Hypothetical polling numbers in a two-way race between Joe Miller (R) and Scott McAdams (D)
|-
| style="border:solid 1px silver; padding:8px; background:white;"|
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|- valign=bottom
! style="width:135px;"| Poll source
! style="width:130px;"| Dates administered
! style="width:130px;"| Joe Miller (R)
! style="width:130px;"| Scott McAdams (D)
|-
| align=center| Rasmussen Reports
| align=center| August 31, 2010
| align=center| 50%
| align=center| 44%
|-
| align=center| Basswood Research
| align=center| August 28–29, 2010
| align=center| 52%
| align=center| 36%
|-
| align=center| Public Policy Polling
| align=center| August 27–28, 2010
| align=center| 47%
| align=center| 39%
|}
{| class="navbox collapsible collapsed" style="text-align:left; border:0; margin-top:0.2em;"
|-
! style="background:#cff; font-weight:normal;"|
Hypothetical polling numbers with Lisa Murkowski as a Libertarian
|-
| style="border:solid 1px silver; padding:8px; background:white;"|
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|- valign=bottom
! style="width:135px;"| Poll source
! style="width:130px;"| Dates administered
! style="width:130px;"| Joe Miller (R)
! style="width:130px;"| Lisa Murkowski (L)
! style="width:130px;"| Scott McAdams (D)
|-
| align=center| Dittman Research
| align=center| August 30, 2010
| align=center| 31%
| align=center| 37%
| align=center| 19%
|-
| align=center| Public Policy Polling
| align=center| August 27–28, 2010
| align=center| 38%
| align=center| 34%
| align=center| 22%
|}
- It was announced on 9/13/10 that Murkowski cannot run on the Libertarian ticket.
Fundraising
{| class="wikitable sortable"|-
! Candidate (party)
! Receipts
! Disbursements
! Cash on hand
! Debt
|-
| | Joe Miller (R)
| $1,980,296
| $1,331,859
| $647,934
| $341
|-
| | Scott McAdams (D)
| $861,121
| $587,639
| $273,480
| $0
|-
| | Lisa Murkowski (R-Write-in)
| $3,416,929
| $3,005,107
| $773,826
| $0
|- align=center
| colspan="5" | Source: Federal Election Commission
|}
Results
Overview
On election day, the write-in ballots were counted, but not examined: determining for which candidate they were cast was deferred. After election officials tabulated 27,000 additional absentee and early ballots, Miller had won 35 percent of the vote while forty percent of the ballots cast were write-ins, which required a hand count to see what names were on them.Write-in count
Alaska election officials said they were counting write-in ballots with misspellings if the names written in were phonetic to Murkowski, claiming that Alaska case lawCase law
In law, case law is the set of reported judicial decisions of selected appellate courts and other courts of first instance which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents in a process known as stare decisis...
supports this practice. The Miller campaign had observers present who challenged ballots which misspelled "Murkowski", or which included the word "Republican" next to Murkowski's name. The Anchorage Daily News noted on November 11 that the bulk of the challenged ballots contained misspellings but examples were not hard to find of challenged ballots that appeared to be "spelled accurately and looked to be filled out properly".
After several days of counting, the Division of Elections showed Murkowski with a lead of some 1,700 votes over Miller, with about 8,000 write-in votes yet to be counted, and a trend of counting 97 percent of the write-ins as for Murkowski. Murkowski's campaign shied away from declaring a victory before the count was finished. As of November 17, (the last day of the hand count), the Division of Elections showed Murkowski having a lead of over 10,000 votes, meaning that even if all the 8,000 challenged ballots were discounted, Murkowski would still lead by about 2,200 votes. The Miller campaign then demanded a hand recount of the entire election, claiming that as Murkowski's votes were all verified by visual inspection Miller should get the same opportunity. The Division of Election officials responded that any recount of non-write-in votes would not be done by hand, but would be done using optical scanners.
Lawsuits
Miller filed a federal lawsuit on November 9, 2010, seeking to have write-in ballots that contained spelling and other errors from being counted toward Murkowski's total and a seeking preliminary injunction to prevent the counting of the write-in votes from even beginning. He claimed that he had a federal case because State election officials were violating the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Protection ClauseEqual Protection Clause
The Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, provides that "no state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws"...
of the 14th Amendment by using a voter intent standard that allowed misspelled write-in votes to count. The federal court allowed the counting to proceed as the challenged ballots were segregated from the others and could be re-examined later, if necessary. After hearing motions and arguments from both sides, the federal court abstained from hearing the case, ruling that the dispute could be resolved by the State courts by reference to State law. The federal court kept the case in its docket in the event that federal issues still remained after the State courts' determination. The federal court also put a halt to the certification of the election pending rulings on Miller's lawsuits. Miller then filed suit in State court, repeating the claims he had previously made, and adding allegations of vote fraud and bias. On December 10, the Alaska Superior Court
Alaska Court System
The Alaska Court System is the unified, centrally administered, and totally state-funded judicial system for the State of Alaska. It has four levels of state courts: the Alaska Supreme Court, the Alaska Court of Appeals, the Alaska Superior Court, and the Alaska District Court...
rejected all of Miller's claims as contrary to State statute and case law, and said the fraud claims were unsubstantiated. Miller has appealed the Superior Court ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court
Alaska Supreme Court
The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court in the State of Alaska's judicial department . The supreme court is composed of the chief justice and four associate justices, who are all appointed by the governor of Alaska and face judicial retention elections and who choose one of their own...
, citing a provision in the Alaska election statute that says there shall be "no exceptions" to the rules for counting ballots, and that therefore, all ballots with misspellings or other deviations should be thrown out. The court is expected to hear oral arguments on December 17. On December 22, the Alaska Supreme Court upheld a lower courts ruling dismissing Miller's claims. On December 26, Miller announced that he would be withdrawing his opposition for Murkowski's senate certification, but would continue pursuing the federal case. On December 31 Miller announced at a news conference in Anchorage that he was conceding.
Write in results
{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;"|- style="background:#e9e9e9;"
! colspan="4" | Write In Totals (100% Precincts reporting)
|- style="background:#eee; text-align:center;"
! style="width: 25em" |Candidate
! style="width: 5em" |Votes
! style="width: 7em" |Percentage
|-
| Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski. After losing a Republican primary in 2010, she became the second person ever to win a U.S...
(Unchallenged)
| style="text-align:right;"| 92,929
| style="text-align:right;"| 89.52%
|-
| Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski. After losing a Republican primary in 2010, she became the second person ever to win a U.S...
(Challenged counted)
| style="text-align:right;"| 8,159
| style="text-align:right;"| 7.86%
|-
|Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski. After losing a Republican primary in 2010, she became the second person ever to win a U.S...
(Challenged not counted)
| style="text-align:right;"| 2,016
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.94%
|-
| Misc. Names
| style="text-align:right;"| 620
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.60%
|-
| Joe Miller
Joe Miller
Joe Miller was an English actor, who first appeared in the cast of Sir Robert Howard's Committee at Drury Lane in 1709 as Teague....
| style="text-align:right;"| 20
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.02%
|-
| Sid Hill
| style="text-align:right;"| 13
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.01%
|-
| Scott McAdams
Scott McAdams
Scott T. McAdams is an Alaskan politician. He has served as a school board member and mayor of Sitka, Alaska and came in third against Joe Miller and Lisa Murkowski in the 2010 US senator's race after running for and winning the Democratic Party's nomination for the United States Senate seat held...
| style="text-align:right;"| 8
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.01%
|-
| Lisa M. Lackey
| style="text-align:right;"| 2
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.00%
|-
| All other write-in candidates
| style="text-align:right;"| 40
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.04%
|- style="background:#eee; text-align:right;"
|| Totals
|| 103,805
|| 100.00%
|}
Certified results
External links
- Alaska Division of Elections
- U.S. Congress candidates for Alaska at Project Vote SmartProject Vote SmartProject Vote Smart is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States...
- Alaska U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
- Campaign contributions from Open SecretsCenter for Responsive PoliticsThe Center for Responsive Politics is a non-profit, nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics and the effect of money and lobbying activity on elections and public policy and maintains a public online database of its information.Their database...
- 2010 Alaska Senate Election graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
- 2010 Alaska Senate Race from Real Clear Politics
- 2010 Alaska Senate Race from CQ PoliticsCongressional QuarterlyCongressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is a privately owned publishing company that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress...
- Race profile from The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Debates
- RUNNING debates hosted by KAKMKAKMKAKM is a Public television station in Anchorage, Alaska, broadcasting locally on digital channel 8 as a PBS member station. The station is owned by Alaska Public Telecommunications, Inc., and is the only PBS station in Alaska that is not part of AlaskaOne. Its program is transmitted from Knik TV...
, audio and video - Alaska Senate Republican Primary Debate, C-SPANC-SPANC-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
, August 19, 2010
Official campaign websites