Lisa Murkowski

State lawmakers are starting the process of looking into election law changes that more than one judge said are necessary in the wake of the disputed Miller-Murkowski race. The Senate held its first hearing on the matter this morning in Juneau. Senators who've signed onto a plan to clarify Alaska election law say the past few months were a wake-up call. “All of us went through that debacle of that election and I felt strongly that there had to be some changes made,” said Sen. Linda Menard (R-Wasilla)

The 2010 Senate race was a historic election. Sen. Lisa Murkowski lost the primary to new comer Joe Miller who was backed heavily by the Tea Party Express and Democrat Scott McAdams came out swinging. In the end, Murkowski won back her Senate seat in a successful write-in campaign, a feat that hadn't been done since 1954.

An Alaska judge ruled against Republican Joe Miller's challenge to write-in votes in the U.S. Senate race. Judge William Carey writes in his decision that state statute allows flexibility. The Miller legal team argues that a candidate's name must be written in as it appears on the individual's declaration of candidacy. Carey says use of the word "appears" does not mean exact spelling is required. "Appears does not mean 'exactly,' 'precisely,' or 'perfectly,' but rather 'close to,' 'like,' or 'resembles.

Write-in ballot counting continued Thursday at the Alaska Litho building in Juneau.Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller’s campaign says it’s concerned about the letter of the law as it scrutinizes the spelling of Sen. Lisa Murkowski's name on write-in ballots -- but should the votes it’s challenged be thrown out? According to the state Division of Elections, 199 precincts of 438 have been counted. Of the 45,132 write-in ballots counted Murkowski has 44,128, but 3,610 of those have been challenged.

As of 2:00 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15 Total votes counted 89,899 433 of 438 precincts Lisa Murkowski uncontested: 80,340 for 89.37 percent Murkowski challenged but counted: 7,188 or 8 percent Not counted for Murkowski but challenged: 1,778 or 1.98 percent As of 6:42 p.m. Nov. 12, Joe Miller had 87,517 votes

The nation is closely watching Alaska’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race -- but only Alaskans can decide it. Incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Repulican Joe Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams all spent their last day campaigning. A recent poll showed that a fifth of the voters were still undecided -- but on Election Day, they can delay no longer. Will they back Miller, who pulled off a shocking upset over Murkowski in the Republican primary? Will Murkowski's write-in campaign save her job?

Before this year’s Republican primary in August, U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller was an unknown, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski was expected to cruise to victory. But in the wake of Miller’s stunning upset, Murkowski is fighting for a political comeback. “Personally, my biggest success is my family; my husband and I have two beautiful, strong, healthy boys,” Murkowski said. “What more could you ask for in life?” The Murkowski family is to Alaska what the Kennedys are to Massachusetts.

The Alaska Division of Elections has released the official certified list of write-in candidates -- including the names of about 160 protesters who registered for the U.S. Senate race Thursday evening, just before the 5 p.m. deadline. The new write-in candidates say their actions are a silent protest against the division, and add that they're throwing their names into the mix to confuse voters and make it more difficult to find write-in candidate Sen. Lisa Murkowski's name. Several of those who filed before Thursday's deadline say they got the idea from KFQD radio talk show host Dan Fagan, who encouraged listeners and offered prizes to whoever put the most Murkowski-like last name on the list.

Courting the Alaska Native vote is an election-year tradition. This year at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention, AFN gave Sen. Lisa Murkowki an unanimous endorsement. Politics permeated the main stage Thursday, as well as what went on behind the scenes. Candidates work the crowds, and campaign workers hand out freebies like buttons, bracelets and berry buckets -- even free lunches, including one featuring U.S. Senate candidate Scott McAdams. “I got a Berkowitz bucket and I've got Lisa's buttons in the bucket.

All three U.S. Senate candidates debated the issues at the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce Monday meeting. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Joe Miller and Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams answered questions for about an hour. Five hundred people listened as the three gave their stance on several subjects including federal spending, the war in Afghanistan and which U.S. Senator they admire the most. Murkowski said Ted Stevens and the names of some democrats she has worked with. McAdams said Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, which was met with applause.