Patty Murray has kept her Senate seat in Washington State. Sorry, Republicans. And Lisa Murkowski is thanking supporters for her win, although she won’t actually know if she won until next week. Sorry, Tea Party and Sarah Palin.
Murray, who faced businessman Dino Rossi, will bring the number of Democratic senators to 53 (and unless there is some strange twist in Alaska, that’s it) and confirm that coastal Democrats tended to keep their seats while Midwesterners and Southerners didn’t.
Meanwhile, in Alaska, Lisa Murkowski has opted to act as if all write-in ballots are hers and reading it as a win, that won’t be certain til at least next week.
Murkowski’s fate rests in the reading of more than 83,000 write-in ballots. As of Thursday, initial returns showed write-in ballots held a 13,439-vote edge over GOP nominee Joe Miller, but it’s not clear how many of those are for Murkowski — or how many of the ballots have been cast properly.
If Miller is indeed out, it would be a very personal defeat for would-be kingmaker Sarah Palin. Murkowski was appointed Senator by her father, who’d moved onto governor — but not before he interviewed Palin for the job. According to The Times,
In her book, “Going Rogue,” Ms. Palin said Mr. Murkowski warned her repeatedly how hard it would be to care for children while working in the Senate.
“He then handed what was called the most coveted government job in the state to his daughter, Lisa, a mom with two young kids,” she wrote.
What’s worse: sexism, nepotism, or the dodged bullet of a Senator Palin?
Washington: Democratic Sen. Murray wins 4th term [AP]
Murray Wins Senate Race [Caucus]
Murkowski Acts Like Victor; Questions Linger [ADN]