Murkowski write-in campaign successful

Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has succeeded in keeping her Senate seat after a long and arduous battle against Republican Joe Miller in the 2010 midterm election.

The Associated Press said today that Murkowski has retained her position in the U.S. Senate.

This announcement was delayed due to write-in errors and misspellings that were discovered during a vote recount.

Even with this concern, CNN has been reporting for the past week that Murkowski had a 10,000 vote lead over Miller, with 89 percent of precincts reporting.

Murkowski lost the Alaska Republican Senate primary in August to Tea Party-backed Miller. This move caused Murkowski to start a write-in campaign on Sept. 17, running as an Independent.

Write-in campaigns historically do not result in an election victory, but Murkowski’s victory is not the first in the U.S. Senate.

Strom Thurmond (D-S.C.) was elected to the Senate via a write-in campaign in 1954.