US Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has announced she will run as a write-in candidate to keep her Senate seat after losing her bid to be the Republican party's nominee in the primary.
The decision has the potential to split the Republican vote in the northern US state and offer Democrats a chance of maintaining control of the US Senate in the November 2 legislative polls.
In August, Murkowski lost the primary to Joe Miller, a candidate strongly supported by the conservative Tea Party.
"Today, my friends, my campaign for Alaska's future begins," Murkowski said Friday, announcing her decision at a political rally in Anchorage, Alaska. "We're in this together."
Miller beat Murkowski in the primary with 55,847 votes to her 53,834.
The senator initially said she planned to abandon the bid. But subsequently, she said many Alaskans were urging her to remain in the race and that the Republican primary was "hijacked by the Tea Party Express, an outside extremist group."
No one has been elected to the US Senate as a write-in candidate since Strom Thurmond in 1954. And Murkowski's write-in bid was not expected to be easy.
In order for Murkowski votes to count in the November general election, voters will have to both write her name on the ballot and fill in a space next to her name, The Anchorage Daily News explained.
"This is Alaska, where we come together, and we embrace one another for who we are, not because we may share the same political label, but because of who we are and what we contribute to our state," Murkowski told supporters. "This is what makes Alaska great, not our political labels."
But her decision is not likely to be welcomed by top Republicans eager to recapture the upper chamber in November.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has already expressed his support for Miller over Murkowski and sent a 5,000-dollar check to Miller's campaign. He also said that Murkowski needs to "move on" after her loss, The Daily News said.
The Republican rising star, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who has endorsed Miller, delivered what is seen as indirect criticism of Murkowski at the Iowa Republican Party's Ronald Reagan dinner on Friday.
"Primary voters have spoken," Palin said. "It is time to unite. If the goal really is to ... stop the Obama agenda and make government respect the will of the people and the wisdom of the people, then it is time to unite."
Later Palin told reporters that Murkowski's write-in bid was "a futile effort" on her part.
"She certainly has the right to do so, but Joe Miller is the right person to lead the state and this country," Palin said.
Murkowski's father, Frank Murkowski, appointed her in 2002 to serve out the senate seat he was leaving vacant to be the state's governor.
In 2006, he lost the Republican primary for governor to Palin, who went on to be the party's vice presidential candidate in 2008.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign committee said Murkowski's decision was evidence of the Republican Party "cannibalizing itself."
The Democratic statement showcased Sitka mayor Scott McAdams, the Democrat in the race.
© Copyright AFP Agence France-Presse GmbH - All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed. All reproduction or redistribution is expressly forbidden without the prior written agreement of AFP.
BUSINESS ONLINE CATALOG
