The Fairbanks, Alaska, attorney stunned the political world in August by defeating incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) in the GOP primary. But Senator Murkowski leapt to action, taught voters how to spell her last name, more or less, and waged an apparently successful write-in campaign to defeat both Mr.Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams.
On Wednesday, the Alaska Supreme Court confirmed Murkowski’s victory by more than 10,000 votes, clearing the way for her election to be certified and for her to be sworn in on Jan. 5 with the other new senators. But Miller is not completely giving up. Though he did not contest certification, so that seniority would not be affected, he is still fighting in federal court. Miller is claiming that state election officials awarded votes to Murkowski based on inaccurate spellings of her name – though a reasonable interpretation of “voter intent” has always been the standard, not perfect spelling. And even if all the misspelled ballots were tossed, Miller would still lose.
Some Republicans give Miller points for doggedness. But others tag him as a sore loser, and says he’s damaging his chances at a future run for office.
