Lisa Murkowski Certified Winner In Alaska
It took almost two months, but Lisa Murkowski’s historic write-in victory is now official:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski was officially named the winner of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race Thursday, following a period of legal fights and limbo that lasted longer than the write-in campaign she waged to keep her job.
Gov. Sean Parnell and Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, who oversees elections, signed the paperwork certifying her win in the hotly contested race.
“It’s done,” Treadwell said after penning his last signature in front of cameras in Parnell’s office.
The paperwork was expected to be hand-delivered to Washington, D.C., by state Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai to guard against delays that could keep Murkowski from being sworn in with her colleagues on Wednesday.
With certification, Murkowski becomes the first U.S. Senate candidate since Strom Thurmond in 1954 to win a write-in campaign.
Joe Miller, meanwhile, has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow at 2:00pm Alaska time, 6:00pm Eastern. My guess is that he’s going to announce that he’s abandoning his efforts and will not be appealing the dismissal of his Federal lawsuit. Why else schedule the presser for 6pm Washington time on New Years Eve?
And thus, dear readers, we come to the official end of the 2010 Election. Murkowski’s race was the last Congressional race in the country to be officially certified.
