Republican senate candidate Joe Miller doesn’t think the race is over.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, 41 percent of votes were for write-in candidate, 34 percent for Republican Joe Miller, and 24 percent for Democrat Scott McAdams.

“Previous write-in campaigns in Alaska have demonstrated that as much as 5 to 6 percent of returned ballots have not met the standard to be counted as a valid vote,” said the Miller campaign in a statement.

“Without a single write-in ballot counted, Lisa Murkowski has no claim on a victory,” the campaign continued. “To complicate the matter, the Division of Elections has yet to adequately explain how a ballot will be marked in favor of a candidate. The current standards are extraordinarily ambiguous. We trust that officials will conduct the hand count with propriety and consistency.”

The Miller campaign will have the support of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh told The Hill, “The NRSC has been assisting the Miller campaign from day one and we continue to assist his campaign.”

The write-in ballot count will not begin until next Wednesday.

“We’re going to hit the sack,” Joe Miller tells NRO. “We’ll see what it looks like in the morning.”

Miller still see signs of hope. “Last result that came in just closed the gap a little bit,” Miller points out, noting that his share of the vote has increased by a percentage point (from 34 percent to 35 percent). And he says that he did well in the early votes.

“We do know that there are thousands and thousands of write-in ballots,” Miller adds, indicating that it could be a while before the final results will be known. “At any rate, we know it’s likely those write-in ballots will have to be counted and reviewed. . . . 160 write-in candidates on that list so we’ll see where that goes.”

With 68 percent of precincts voting, 39 percent of voters chose a write-in candidate, 35 percent backed Miller, and 24 percent voted for McAdams.

With 40 percent of precincts reporting in Alaska, write-in candidates are at 39.5 percent, Miller is at 35 percent, and McAdams is at 25 percent.

The Anchorage, Alaska TV station that left a voicemail on Joe Miller campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto’s phone discussing possible events that could happen at an upcoming Miller rally, including a child molester being present or violence occurring, has fired two of its producers. From the station’s press release:

General Manager Jerry Bever stated, “As we worked through this fact-finding process we noted that actual story assignments for that day had already been decided before the recorded conversation took place. At no time did any of the elements associated with the recorded comments become part of any coverage or broadcast.  The recorded conversation in question specifically involved how that evening’s Miller rally might be promoted and the ensuing dialogue went down hill from there.  These particular comments were not in line with KTVA standards.”

As a result of this incident, the two producers involved in the recorded conversation are no longer with the station.  As a matter of policy KTVA did not identify the staff members involved, however KTVA clarified that neither the News Director, Assignment Editor Nick McDermott nor any other KTVA reporters were involved in the recorded conversation as previously reported by the Miller campaign. 

KTVA believes that its actual broadcast coverage of Miller has been sound and fair during this election cycle and the history of our coverage speaks for itself.  Bever noted that in the coverage of this issue, FOX News correspondent Dan Springer reported that in a review of recent Miller coverage by KTVA, Fox News could not find any articles or stories that showed any obvious bias or hit pieces against Joe Miller.

KTVA has contacted the Miller campaign to set up a meeting to review its findings.

Republican senate candidate Joe Miller’s campaign reported that Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s campaign wrote a letter to local media outlets urging them not to air Miller’s ads in the last 24 hours before the election. The Murkowski campaign, according to a letter written by Miller lawyer Thomas Van Flein, said the Miller ads did not include the necessary sponsorship required by federal law.

“The Miller Campaign ads are in fact compliant and contain the sponsorship statement required under Federal Law (BCRA), namely; a statement from the candidate that he approves the message,” argued Van Flein in the letter.

“These Murkowski accusations are false,” said Miller in a statement. “They are being made to intimidate local broadcasters to pull my advertising on the eve of the election. To our knowledge, no ads have been pulled, but the effort to do so is unfair, unwise and un-American.”

“Joe Miller will not be intimidated by Murkowski’s efforts to stop his ability to communicate to the people of Alaska through the airwaves,” Miller spokesman Randy DeSoto said in a statement. “It’s part of a relentless effort by numerous media parties and the Murkowski campaign to silence and distort our message. People throughout the state are responding to his message and that will be reflected at the polls today.”

Murkowski spokesman Steve Wackowski tells Battle ’10 that Miller’s ads did not follow federal rules. “In his current ads he attacks Senator Murkowski and does not mention the office he is running for,” says Wackowski. “I recommend you ask his camp why they did not include the proper disclaimer.” Wackowski attached the Federal Election Commission’s rules for radio ads, underlining the rule stating that a candidate must specifically mention what political office he is seeking or face losing the privilege of lower ad costs.

“Murkowski admits trying to get Joe’s ads pulled,” responds Miller campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto to Battle ’10. “This is unethical and illegal.  Joe’s ads make it clear he is running for U.S. Senate.  Is Lisa Murkowski really contending that Joe’s ads don’t make that clear?  In any event, if the required sponsorship information is not self-contained, the only remedy a station has is to consider applying a higher advertising rate instead of the lowest privileged rates otherwise available to political candidates.  There is nothing in the law that allows Murkowski to unilaterally and petulantly demand Alaska media to pull Joe Miller ads.”

DeSoto added that the campaign had confirmed all ads were in compliance with federal rules.

Alaska Division of Elections director Gail Fenumiai tells Battle ’10 how Alaska will count write-in votes. “Write-in votes will be counted and reported as a group total Write-Ins,” she wrote in an e-mail. “If after counting all absentee and questioned ballots write-in votes is the highest for that race, then the individual votes will be counted  OR if write-in votes is second and the difference of votes cast between first and second is less than .5%.”

As of October 31, 15,899 mail-in ballots have been returned (out of 30,017 sent), and 416 by-fax ballots (out of 1,244) have been returned. 6,346 people had cast their absentee in-person ballots. As of November 1, there had been 12,306 early votes cast.

All of these will be part of tonight’s count. “We plan to post our first election results at 9pm and then every 15-20 minutes thereafter with precinct by precinct results available at the end of the evening — most likely very early in the morning,” says Fenumiai.

In an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Sen. John Cornyn reiterated the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s support of Republican senate candidate Joe Miller, and picked which senate race was most likely to have an unexpected outcome.

“We have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars of support to Joe Miller’s campaign. What I want to make sure doesn’t happen is the vote doesn’t get split so the Democrat wins. That would be the worst of all scenarios.”

“We respect and honor the choice of Republican primary voters,” Cornyn added.

And asked what race could surprise everyone, Cornyn chose West Virginia, where Republican senate candidate John Raese has been trailing Democrat Gov. Joe Manchin by a few points in recent polls.

Republican senate candidate Joe Miller is now the frontrunner in the Alaska senate race, according to a new poll released by Public Policy Polling today.

The poll shows Miller backed by 37 percent of likely voters, while write-in candidate Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Scott McAdams are both backed by 30 percent.

Independent and third-party voters are about evenly split between the three candidates, with 34 percent supporting Murkowski, 32 percent McAdams, and 31 percent Miller. Both McAdams and Miller are retaining about two-thirds of their party’s voters, while Murkowksi is drawing 28 percent of Democrats and 27 percent of Republicans.

McAdams has the highest favorability ratings at 50 percent, easily beating Murkowski’s 37 percent and Miller’s 36 percent.  And while only 30 percent of voters have an unfavorable view of McAdams, 59 percent and 53 percent respectively of voters view Miller and Murkowski unfavorably.

Those favorability numbers also reveal an interesting phenomen: Murkowski may be stealing more votes from McAdams than Miller.

“The high number of voters who like McAdams, dislike Miller, and are voting for Murkowski place the race in a whole different light than has been thought of the last few months,” said PPP’s Tom Jensen in a statement. “Murkowski’s campaign, rather than propping herself up at the expense of Miller, may actually end up propping Miller up at the expense of McAdams.”

The poll was conducted between October 30 – 31 and surveyed 1,539 likely voters. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

In a statement, Anchorage TV station KTVA denies that the a voicemail recording of several KTVA employees shows any intention to smear Republican senate candidate Joe Miller’s campaign. The Miller campaign had said the voicemail showed KTVA reporters were “openly discuss creating, if not fabricating, two stories.”

“The Miller campaign’s analysis of the recording is incorrect in many material ways ranging from personnel involved in the conversation, the interpretation of conversation snippets and the reported transcript of the perceived garbled conversation,” said KTVA general manager Jerry Bever, but did not specifically say whether assignment editor Nick McDermott, whose phone the call had been place from, was or was not speaking in the call. Bever did not dispute that all the speakers were KTVA employees.

Admitting that “the recording is real,” Bever defended the conversation, saying that “the group of KTVA news personnel was reviewing potential ‘what-if’ scenarios, discussing the likelihood of events at the rally and how KTVA might logistically disseminate any breaking news.” He did not explain what had lead KTVA to anticipate a child molester and/or violence being present during a Miller campaign event.

“The perception that this garbled, out of context recording may leave is unfortunate, but to allege that our staff was discussing or planning to create or fabricate stories regarding candidate Miller is absurd,” added Bever. “The complete conversation was about what others might be able to do to cause disruption within the Miller campaign, not what KTVA could do.”

The station did not immediately respond to a request seeking clarification on what exactly the Miller campaign had allegedly misrepresented in their press release and transcript. The Miller campaign has also released the audio of the voicemail, which appears to match up with the transcript provided by the campaign.

ABC’s Jonathan Karl is reporting that a “high-level GOP source” told him that the Republican party had “essentially given up” on Republican senate candidate Joe Miller and consider Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has said she will caucus with the GOP if elected, as the party’s best chance of keeping the seat. From Karl’s report:

With Miller’s campaign faltering, the source tells me that Republican leaders are now worried that Democrat Scott McAdams has a shot of winning and that Murkowski may be the only way to stop him. …

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has been forced to spend precious resources in Alaska.  But take a look at the latest ad running in Alaska:  It spends 25 seconds attacking Democrat McAdams and less than five seconds mentioning Joe Miller.

If the NRSC really wanted to help Miller, it would be attacking Murkowski.  Indeed, an anti-McAdams ad may be the last thing Miller needs right now.  At this point, what he really needs is for McAdams to siphon anti-Miller votes away from Murkowski.

UPDATE: On ABC’s The Week this morning, host Christine Amanpour asked NRSC chairman Sen. John Cornyn about Karl’s report that the GOP had given up on Miller. “Well, that’s not the case,” responded Cornyn. “We, what we have done, we are supporting the nominee of our party, which is Mr. Miller … but are concerned.”

When Amanpour asked if Miller could win, Cornyn hedged. “Well, I think that polls are very close now between Senator Murkowski and Joe Miller,” he said, “and what we want to make sure of is that the Democrat doesn’t win … in November.”

Republican senate candidate Joe Miller’s campaign has released the audio of a voicemail left on campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto’s phone that reveals local reporters were discussing how they hoped to find a child molester at the rally or the kind of violence that had occurred before Kentucky senate candidate Rand Paul’s debate last week.  

Here’s the transcript provided by the Miller campaign:

FEMALE REPORTER: That’s up to you because you’re the expert, but that’s what I would do…I’d wait until you see who showed up because that indicates we already know something…

[Laughter]

[INAUDIBLE]

FEMALE REPORTER: Child molesters…

MALE REPORTER: Oh yeah… can you repeat Joe Miller’s…uh… list of people, campaign workers, which one’s the molester?

[INAUDIBLE]

FEMALE VOICE: We know that out of all the people that will show up tonight, at least one of them will be a registered sex offender.

[Laughter]

MALE REPORTER: You have to find that one person…

[INAUDIBLE]

FEMALE REPORTER: And the one thing we can do is ….we won’t know….we won’t know but if there is any sort of chaos whatsoever we can put out a twitter/facebook alert: saying what the… ‘Hey Joe Miller punched at rally.’

FEMALE REPORTER: Kinda like Rand Paul…I like that.

[Laughter]

FEMALE REPORTER: That’s a good one.

The reporters are with the CBS Anchorage-based TV station KTVA. The Miller campaign believes the male reporter is Nick McDermott, an assignment editor at the station. The call was placed from McDermott’s phone, and later in the day, DeSoto received a text from McDermott’s phone saying, “Damn iPhone . . . I left you a long message. I thought I hung up. Sorry.”

“Frankly, when I first heard this I was shocked,” said DeSoto in a statement. “Though a bit garbled at times, there are disturbing comments in this conservation that never should have occurred.”

KTVA did not immediately return a request for comment.

UPDATE: The National Republican Senatorial Committee has spoken out on the incident. “If this voicemail is authentic, which i[t] appears to be, it is deeply disturbing,” said NRSC communications director Brian Walsh in a statement. “It should trouble all Americans that any member of the media would attempt to purposefully smear a nominee for the U.S. Senate. CBS owes an immediate explanation to Joe Miller and his campaign.”

Former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin wrote a Facebook note last night that slammed Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s campaign for the cancellation of Alaska radio host Dan Fagan’s show yesterday afternoon.

Fagan, who is credited for helping increase the number of write-in senate candidates to about 150 by urging listeners to file the paperwork to become write-in candidates, was accused of participating in “electioneering,” by former broadcaster John Tracy. Tracy, who now runs an advertising and public relations company that has been hired to make commercials for the Murkowski campaign, told the Anchorage Daily News that Fagan “crossed a line from being inflammatory to doing something that actually tries to manipulate an election.”

Tracy said that he had called the Murkowski campaign before calling Dennis Bookey, the general manager of the media group that manages Fagan’s station, to complain about Fagan. The Murkowski campaign did not object to his decision.

Fagan was told yesterday at lunch that he would not be allowed to go on air for his usual 2 – 5 p.m. program.

Fagan defended his decision to the Anchorage Daily News. “Some people might criticize throwing tea in the Boston harbor and some people might criticize having all these people register as a write-in candidate. But when the government acts illegally, you have to stand up to it,” he said.

“How low will she [Murkowski]  go to hold onto power?” asked Palin in her note. “First, she gets the Division of Elections to change its write-in process  — a process that Judge Pfiffner correctly determined had been in place without change for 50 years,” a reference to the state supreme court ruling agreeing (overruling a lower court decision made by Judge Frank Pfiffner) that voters who request it can be given a list of write-in candidates at polling sites.

“She is accepting financial support from federal contractors, an act that is highly questionable and now pending before the FEC,” Palin continued, referring to the Alaskan Native Corporations (who have all received extensive federal contracts) funding Alaskans Standing Together group running ads supporting Murkowski, although they have no direct cooperation with her campaign. The Miller campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission earlier this month, arguing that it was illegal for federal contractors to try to influence federal elections. 

“And today, she played her last card,” said Palin. “She made it clear that if you disagree with her and encourage others to exercise their civic rights, she’ll take you off the air.”

“Individuals like Dan Fagan have a fundamental right to speak their minds without threats from the incumbent Senator from Alaska,” wrote Palin. “Dan Fagan has not always agreed with me, but I will gladly defend his right to speak freely on his radio show, which he has often used to criticize me. … But when I was his governor, I never would have dreamed of threatening his right to free speech.”

The Murkowski campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A poll conducted by Dittman Research shows Sen. Lisa Murkowski with a 10-point lead over Republican senate candidate Joe Miller, 37 percent to 27 percent. Democrat Scott McAdams finishes last at 23 percent. Thirteen percent of voters support another candidate or are unsure.

The Dittman Research polls, however, have consistently shown Murkowski in the lead, with 36 percent to 38 percent of the vote from late August/early September until now. Miller’s support, which has ranged from 26 percent to 32 percent, has always placed him in second.

Those results differ dramatically from other polls done in the same period, which showed Miller ahead by a point or two.

The poll operates by first asking respondees to name their candidate of choice, reports National Journal’s Hotline on Call. If they are unable to name the candidate, they are then read the list of candidates, including the “write-in” option. If they choose the write-in option, they must then state Murkowski’s name.

Republican senate candidate Joe Miller released a new ad today that uses footage of Sen. Lisa Murkowski saying, “Yes, we can” to depict her as promoting President Obama’s policies.

The ad, which also includes clips of Obama saying the phrase, mentions “Wall Street Bailouts” and “Cap and Trade,” and tells Alaskans “Don’t be fooled again.”

The Murkowski campaign released a new ad yesterday that paints Miller as out-of-touch with America. “Joe Miller’s answer to freedom of the press: arrest the journalists,” says the narrator. “Joe Miller’s answer to illegal immigration: use East Germany as an example.”

“Exactly what kind of America does Joe Miller live in?” asks the narrator, as clips of a Miller campaign Hummer and gun-touting Miller supporters marching are aired. “Time for a return to common sense. Time to return Lisa Murkowski to Washington,” the narrator finishes.  

Democrat Scott McAdams will also be getting an ad boost from the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee, which will be spending $165,000 on ads supporting McAdams in the last days before the election, Politico reports.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski touted her NRA endorsement in a recent campaign mailing, without noting that she received the endorsement during the Republican primary. The NRA has not endorsed any candidate in the general election.

The mailing, which features a letter written by late Alaskan senator Ted Stevens before his death in August, says “Lisa is the NRA endorsed candidate and is a strong supporter of our 2nd Amendment.”

“This is yet another example of Lisa saying anything and everything in her desperate attempts to keep the Senate seat her father gave her,” Republican senate candidate Joe Miller said in a statement. “She had a ‘D’ rating in the state house and voted in favor of Eric Holder’s nomination for U.S. Attorney General.  There is only one candidate running for Senate that is a true supporter of the 2nd Amendment and I am that candidate.”

The Murkowski campaign defended the claim. “When the NRA compared Lisa Murkowski’s record on the second amendment head-to-head with Joe’s during the Primary election, they endorsed Senator Murkowski.  Joe clearly hasn’t been able to get over that,” said Murkowski spokesman Steve Wackowski in a statement. “Joe really has no grounds to accuse Senator Murkowski of being less than truthful.  This is coming from a man who less than two years ago was suspended from his job as a lawyer for the people of Fairbanks for fifteen days because of lying, covering up and lying again.”

Earlier this week Politico reported that Murkowski had sent out a mailing entitled “Alaskan Democrats Who Are Voting for Lisa Murkowski – and not Scott McAdams,” and featuring quotes lauding Murkowski from prominent Democrats such as Sen. Patty Murray (D – WA) and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Ethan Berkowitz. Both Murray and Berkowitz have endorsed Democrat senate candidate Scott McAdams.

Murkowski apologized, and a spokesman said the campaign intended to headline the mailer, “What Alaskan Democrats are saying about Lisa.”

Sarah Palin urged Alaskans to support Republican senate candidate Joe Miller yesterday night at a rally in Anchorage, Alaska.

 “I read his resume, I read his accomplishments, I read his passion for America and I think, ‘Are we even fit to tie his combat boots?’” asked Palin.

Palin also took some swipes at Murkowski. “He’s [Miller] running against two candidates who are in complete denial about the problems that big growing government causes for you all. One of them is an out-of-touch liberal and the other happened to be the mayor of Sitka,” she said.

“Let’s call her [Murkowski] the candidate for the entitlement party. She can’t really find a party. Not independent, not Republican,” Palin added, saying that Murkowski’s campaign was “being run by a lot of beltway lobbyists.”

Palin also expressed confidence in Miller’s ability to withstand the recent campaign setbacks. “His commanding officer described him as a true warrior leader, tested under fire, and I say tested under fire then as he is now in this campaign. It’s going to make him stronger,” she said. Miller, who admitted to misusing government computers in 2008 to participate in an online political poll after a court released some of his employment files on Tuesday, has been working to regain momentum in the race.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski issued a critical statement before the rally.“While he claims that this election is not just about Alaska, I insist it is ALL about Alaska. Joe Miller, Jim DeMint and Sarah Palin can criticize me for not toeing the party line, but I will never quit putting Alaska first,” she said.

Todd Palin and Northern Exposure actress Janine Turner were also present, and various conservative figures, including Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. Michele Bachmann, delivered video messages in support of Miller.

An Alaskan state supreme court judge ruled yesterday that polling places must provide interested voters with a list of write-in candidates. That ruling inspired at least 100 Alaskans to file as write-in candidates yesterday, reported the Anchorage Daily News, ensuring that voters will have a long list of names to look at on Election Day.

A Lisa M. Lackey and Laura L. “Lisabeth” Raschal are among the write-in candidates whose paperwork was approved by the state. Election officials have not made clear whether abbreviated or misspelled forms of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s name would count as votes for her.

Alaska radio host Dan Fagan urged Alaskans to become write-in candidates. “Rush on over there before 5 o’clock and register as a write-in candidate. Especially if your last name is Murkowski. That would really help the cause,” he said yesterday. Conservatives4Palin and Big Government’s Dan Riehl also pushed people to become write-in candidates yesterday.

Sarah Palin will headline a rally for Republican senate candidate Joe Miller tonight.

Also scheduled to be present are Todd Palin and Northern Exposure actress Janine Turner. Several prominent conservatives will also make video appearances, including Mike Huckabee, Sen. Jim DeMint, and Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Palin, who wrote a Facebook note supporting Miller on Monday, tweeted a defense of him yesterday: “Who’s the real Joe Miller? Media obviously ignores GOP nominee’s winning record, message & plan for AK to favor their Leftwinger chosen one,” she commented.

The Alaska Supreme Court reversed an earlier ruling from a lower court yesterday, and said that voters could request a list of write-in candidates at polling places. The list will not be permitted to include the candidates’ party affiliation.

“This stay will ensure that Alaskans can continue to get the assistance they’re entitled to under law,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s campaign manager Kevin Sweeney in a statement.

Both the Alaskan Democrat and Republican party had opposed the list.

Alaska Superior Court judge Frank Pfiffner said in his ruling yesterday that “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.”

The Supreme Court also ordered that any ballots completed after the voter had requested a list should be set aside separately, in case there are later appeals.

A new poll shows Republican senate candidate Joe Miller rapidly losing support from Alaskan voters. The Hays Research poll has “write-in candidate” (Sen. Lisa Murkowski was not directly named) backed by 34 percent, Democrat Scott McAdams by 29 percent, and Miller by 23 percent.

UPDATE: Over at Campaign Spot, Jim Geraghty lists some reasons to be skeptical about the accuracy of the poll, including that Hays Research has been badly off in the past. And as a couple of readers have pointed out via e-mail, it looks like the poll surveyed adults, not registered or likely voters.

“On November 2nd, don’t get scared by she-who-must-not-be-named,” is the motto of a new, Halloween-themed Republican senate candidate Joe Miller ad that targets Sen. Lisa Murkowski in what may be the first political ad to throw in a Harry Potter reference.

In addition to a fundraising letter, former governor Sarah Palin also wrote a Facebook note today supporting Republican senate candidate Joe Miller and harshly criticizing Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s behavior during last night’s debate.

“I have never seen a candidate stoop as low as was seen last night in Alaska’s senatorial debate,” wrote Palin, referring to Murkowski’s question to Miller about what his West Point classmates and instructors would say about “how well” he had lived up to his code of honor.

“I’ve seen some pretty ugly campaigning, and what they’re throwing at Joe right now is nasty. … They can’t win in a fair fight on the issues, so they sling mud,” continued Palin.

“We saw all of this play out in the Alaska senatorial debate yesterday … perhaps the most shocking part of all in this debate was when the incumbent Senator used Joe Miller’s distinguished military service as a means to attack him,” said Palin. “Joe Miller graduated from West Point, fought in Desert Storm, and was awarded the Bronze Star for his service to our country. I find it astonishing that a sitting U.S. Senator from Alaska would challenge the honor of a decorated combat veteran.”

“Is it any wonder the audience later booed her when she again challenged Joe Miller’s honor?” asked Palin, referencing the crowd response to Murkowski’s comment that “Joe is not fit to lead.”

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin sent out a fundraising letter in support of GOP senate candidate Joe Miller today.

“Conservatives need to rally around Joe Miller,” wrote Palin. “He is the only true conservative in this race.  While Lisa Murkowski and her special interests have nothing to lose in this race, Alaskans and conservatives across the country have everything to lose.”

“Public service should be an honor, not a family dynasty,” Palin added, a reference to Sen. Lisa Murkowski being appointed to her senate seat by her father, former governor Frank Murkowski, although she won re-election in 2004.

In early October, there were rumors of a rift between the Miller campaign and the Palins, after leaked e-mails showed that Todd Palin was upset Miller had refused to say Sarah Palin was presidential material. After the e-mail leak, Todd Palin denied that there was any rift, and said that he had originally heard an erroneous account of what Miller had said.

Republican senate candidate Joe Miller conceded in a debate last night that he had been disciplined for violating ethics while working as an attorney at the Fairbanks North Star Borough in 2008, reports the Associated Press.

Miller said that he had lost three days’ pay as penalty for taking part in a political poll during his lunch break at the borough.

Some of Miller’s borough employment records, which several news organizations have sued to be released, are currently slated to be released tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m., thanks to a judge’s ruling on Saturday.

Miller has not yet decided whether to appeal the case to the state supreme court.

Republican senate candidate Joe Miller addressed a letter to Sen. Lisa Murkowski today, asking her to denounce the Alaskans Standing Together group, which has spent nearly $600,000 on TV ads supporting Murkowski.

The group’s funders include nine Alaska Native corporations.  Yesterday, the Miller campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, arguing that since the ANCs had received federal contracts, they were legally banned from spending money to influence elections.

“Since ‘Alaskans Standing Together’ is constituted for the sole purpose of supporting your candidacy,” wrote Miller in the letter, “I am sure that you are alarmed and appalled that they would undermine the integrity of your campaign and this election by acting in violation of federal election laws and federal laws prohibiting the use of federal tax dollars for political purposes.”

“Because your name is directly tied to ‘AST’ and the native corporations who are funding it, I would like to extend to you this invitation to join me in taking a stand against these illegal activities,” he said.

Asked for a response to the letter, Murkowski campaign spokesman Steve Wackowski said to Battle ’10, “It is ironic that Joe Miller attempts to label this as a scandal when he is due to show up in Court this Saturday to discuss the release of his public service record with the Fairbanks North Star Borough.”