Upsets

Murkowski Could Lose Seat

Alaska senator trails Palin-backed challenger.

Tuesday night wasn’t as boring as everyone had predicted: With all but nine precincts counted, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is trailing challenger Joe Miller by 2,000 votes in the Republican primary for her seat, a major shock to the incumbent who, despite Sarah Palin’s endorsement of her opponent, looked likely to keep her seat before voting began. Murkowski, with 49 percent of the vote to Miller’s 51 percent, could be the fourth Republican incumbent to lose in the primary this year. Miller, a Gulf War veteran, earned the backing of the California-based Tea Party Express, which criticized Murkowski for not being conservative enough. Murkowski is the daughter of longtime Alaska politician Frank Murkowski, who was defeated by Palin for the 2006 Republican nomination for governor. Many thought Palin endorsed the long shot Miller to spite the Murkowski clan, not because he has much chance to win. Meanwhile in Florida, millionaire businessman Rick Scott upset Attorney General Bill McCollum in the Republican primary for governor. Some Democrats are thrilled that Scott will be the opponent of their candidate, state CFO Alex Sink, because Scott’s has some major baggage in his past: he was head of the Columbia/HCA hospital chain when it was forced to pay $1.7 billion in fines for overcharging for Medicare and Medicaid.