Libertarians tell Murkowski thanks but no thanks

The Alaska Libertarian Party will not allow U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski to run on its ticket in the event she loses the Republican primary to Joe Miller. The decision was made based on the issues, according to the campaign manager for Scott Kohlhaas, the Libertarian candidate for senate.

"She's much more fiscally conservative than the Democrats, but she's not what you would call fiscally conservative in the Republican caucus," said Eric Dondero, Kohlaas' manager.

The issue of how Murkowski could stay in the race has been the subject of much rumor since Joe Miller put up a 1,668-vote lead over Murkowski in the Republican primary. There are still at least 23,472 absentee and questioned ballots, which will begin being counted Tuesday morning.

The Libertarians have a press conference scheduled for 1 p.m. to announce whether they would allow Joe on their ballot in the event he lost the primary. The presser will be held outside Loussac Library in Midtown Anchorage. However, the Anchorage Daily News' Sean Cockerham wrote on the paper's political blog that Miller said he would not consider a third party candidacy if Murkowski ends up beating him in the primary.

The Libertarian's decision leaves Murkowski with the sole option of running as a write-in candidate if she loses the primary but wants to stay in the race, according to Gail Fenumiai, the director of the Alaska Division of Elections. Because the Libertarians were the only party, besides the elephants and donkeys, to field a candidate in the primary, they are the only party that could host Murkowski in the general.

The only other option would be to run as a write-in candidate, but, according to Politico, only South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond has ever tried that and won.

Contact Joshua Saul at jsaul@alaskadispatch.com.