Miller Will Let Murkowski Take Seat
The NY Times reports:
Republican Joe Miller said he won't stand in the way of incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski being certified the winner of Alaska's U.S. Senate race, but he vowed to continue his legal fight over the state's handling of the vote count.
Miller's announcement late Sunday paves the way for Murkowski — a write-in candidate after losing the Republican nomination to Miller — to eventually be declared winner of the race.
Election officials determined Murkowski had the most votes in the November election but were barred from certifying a victory by a federal judge, who issued a stay to give the courts time to rule on Miller's claims the vote count was mishandled.
Sunday's decision means Miller won't file any motions to stop the court from lifting the stay.
Miller said he wants to ensure Alaska has full representation when senators are sworn in for the new term of Congress on Jan. 5.
"This decision will allow Alaskans to focus on bringing fairness and transparency to our elections process without distraction of the certification issue," he said in a statement.
U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline, who is hearing Miller's federal court challenge, must still decide whether to lift his stay before the state can move ahead with certification. There was no immediate word on when that might occur.
But Beistline had already indicated he was likely to lift the stay, saying Alaska should have a senator in place when Congress' new term begins, even if that means later having to replace that person when all legal disputes are eventually resolved.
Murkowski mounted a write-in campaign after losing the GOP primary to Miller.
There was no immediate comment from Murkowski or state election officials early Monday.
Click here to read more.
