Alaska

State Highlights

The fiercest political battles in Alaska in recent years have not been across party lines but rather within the Republican Party. This election was no different.

As ballots were still being counted Wednesday, the Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski, who asked voters to write in her name, appeared to be leading the official Republican candidate and Tea Party favorite, Joe Miller, who defeated her in the primary. Alaska election officials said that they would begin counting write-in ballots next Tuesday and they expect the counting should take three days. A victory by Ms. Murkowski would be a stunning upset, as no senator has won a write-in campaign since 1954. It would also represent a significant setback for Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor who strongly backed Mr. Miller.

The suspense prolongs a family feud of sorts between the Murkowskis and Ms. Palin, who in 2006 defeated Gov. Frank H. Murkowski, Ms. Murkowski’s father, in a landslide in the Republican primary. Mr. Miller and Ms. Palin, who had criticized Mr. Murkowski for appointing his daughter to a vacant Senate seat, attacked Ms. Murkowski as the “entitlement candidate” and as too liberal for the state. But Mr. Miller’s conservative stance on issues like the growing budget deficit worried many Alaskans, whose economy is highly dependent on federal spending.

Two other Republican incumbents, Gov. Sean Parnell, and Representative Don Young, the state’s sole House member, were re-elected by wide margins.

MIGUEL HELFT