Alaska Dispatch

As U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski gave up her bid for re-election, political experts debated whether her defeat could have been avoided through better polling, whether the Tea Party Express cost her the election, and whether Alaskans should expect to see their senior senator launch a write-in campaign.

On Tuesday night, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski ended her bid for the GOP nomination to the seat she has held since her father passed it on to her eight years ago. "It's been a terrible week," Murkowski said. "I don't see a scenario where the primary will turn out in my favor."

While Murkowski made up 200 votes Tuesday, her prospects still looked grim Tuesday evening.

Despite Miller's memories of himself as a lone conservative while at Yale, he was a member of one of the leading conservative legal groups -- the Yale Law Federalist Society.

Glance through Alaska Dispatch's coverage of Tea Party-backed Joe Miller, the dark horse candidate who's threatening to unseat Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Tea Party-backed Joe Miller, who is threatening to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, has a bold vision for Alaska, one that would entail the state taking over federal lands, including Denali National Park and Preserve.