Although absentee ballots are still being counted, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski conceded defeat in the Republican primary to her Tea Party-backed opponent, Joe Miller.
Miller’s lead over Murkowski has dwindled to about 1,400 votes with many absentees yet to be tallied, but Murkowsk said Tuesday night in Anchorage: “I don’t see a scenario where the primary will turn out in my favor.”
It was a shocking defeat for Murkowski – polls released just before the primary election showed her with a supposedly healthy lead over Miller – and a huge victory for her political nemesis, former governor Sarah Palin.
Where Palin could not deliver a victory for Karen Handel in Georgia’s GOP primary for governor, she was able to propel Miller, an obscure political newcomer, to victory over the incumbent Alaska senator.
