A Tea Party Triumph in Alaska?

Flickr/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/joewmiller/4839903554/">Joe Miller</a>.

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Tea party candidate Joe Miller may upset incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski in Alaska after all. Miller was an unknown until just the past few days, when polls showed him nipping at Murkowski’s heels. As of this morning, the incumbent trailed Miller by 2,555 votes with 84 percent of precincts reporting.

Murkowski has 48.6 percent of the vote to Miller’s 51.4 percent. It may take another week for the final tally, however, as the 16,000 absentee ballots won’t be counted until Aug. 31.

If Miller does win, it would be quite an upset. He was trailing Murkowski by 32 points a month ago, and the state’s senior senator outspent him by 20-to-1. Murkowski has been in the Senate since 2002; her father, Frank, appointed her to fill his seat when he became governor of the state.

Miller got a boost from the endorsements of several high-profile conservatives like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The former, of course, has a storied history with the Murkowski family, having unseated Murkowski’s father in 2006. An anti-incumbent sentiment may have won out here, even in a state that is known for respecting seniority. Murkowski is currently the ranking minority member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and has played a key role in drafting legislation over the past two years.

The winner in the Republican primary will face Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams, who won the Democratic nomination yesterday.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

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