Joe Miller-Lisa Murkowski sweat a tough race in Alaska

At the headquarters of U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski long past midnight Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, aides pored over precinct election reports as the senator sat on a green couch with her family and staff.

The race between incumbent Republican Murkowski and Tea Party Express-backed Joe Miller -- the race most pollsters had called out as an easy win for Murkowski only days before -- had turned into a knock-down fight looking to stretch out longer than expected.

And Murkowski was, through Tuesday evening and late into the night, the one on the losing side. Very early on Wed. morning, unofficial results show Murkowski down 1,960 votes with almost 98 percent of precincts reporting. Completing the tally of absentee ballots will stretch into the first week of September, and the Division of Elections says that out of 16,000 absentee ballots sent out for this election, 7,600 were cast by Monday.

Former Gov. Sarah Palin backed Miller against Murkowski, who she's ridiculed off and on over the years. Palin especially didn't like that Lisa Murkowski's father, Frank, appointed Lisa to his U.S. Senate seat after he was elected Alaska governor in 2002.

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Lisa Murkowski's staff held out hope that some of the precincts still to report, including many in rural Alaska, could swing the win her way. Murkowski herself was just trying to stay calm.

"I've decided the best thing is to stay out of the computer room, because the results don't come in any quicker when you're in there looking over everybody's shoulder," she said Tuesday night.

At Election Central in downtown Anchorage, Miller appeared early in the evening surrounded by supporters. He stayed until after midnight and chatted casually with well-wishers, many of whom wanted a photograph with him.

Miller attributed his strong showing to a last-minute surge fueled by an influx of money that helped him spread his message across television air waves. That message "has been the same consistent message from day one," he added; it was a warning that the federal government is on the verge of bankruptcy and new leadership is needed.

Miller had run an energetic campaign that never slowed as election day approached. On Tuesday, he was up until 4 a.m. answering emails, he said, grabbed a couple hours sleep, and out at 6 a.m. to wave signs on one of Fairbank's busiest streets. At 11 a.m. he flew to Anchorage, where he went on two talk shows and did some more sign-waving.

Asked how a relative newcomer to Alaska politics had managed to grab so many votes, Miller cited a variety of factors. Loren Leman's endorsement helped a lot, especially on the Kenai Peninsula, he said, and die-hard volunteers never hurt. But Miller also mentioned a radio ad the Murkowski campaign played on Election Day, one that used a clip from the Dan Fagan radio show wherein Fagan yelled at Miller for misrepresenting Murkowski's stance on health care. The problem, Miller said, is that Fagan later endorsed Miller and said the challenger was correct to attack Murkowski on her "ObamaCare" record.

"Obviously Murkowski's radio ad lacked integrity," Miller said. "I think the media will attribute her loss to that ad."

Miller, who announced he was gunning for Murkowski back in April, based his campaign on the idea that he was a true constitutional conservative while his opponent was a Republican in name only.

During his run, Miller enjoyed huge amounts of press and support after he was endorsed by Sarah Palin, the half-term Alaskan who resigned to become a national celebrity, and Mike Huckabee, who left Arkansas to become a national talk-show host. Miller also rode a wave of cash, $550,000 at last count, brought north by the Tea Party Express from California when the group decided Miller was the man for Alaska.