'Looking forward to serving all Alaskans!' Murkowski tweeted Tuesday. Judge rules in favor of Murkowski

A federal judge in Alaska issued two rulings against Republican Joe Miller on Tuesday, creating a path for Sen. Lisa Murkowski to be sworn in for a second full term along with the rest of the 112th Congress on Jan. 5.

U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline ended the stay that barred Alaska's elections officials from certifying the race and dismissed Miller's federal suit challenging the state's vote totals. Murkowski's win will be certified Thursday, but Murkowski has effectively won the election, with 101,091 votes to Miller's 90,839, according to vote totals released by the state.


Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell had initially said in a news release that Murkowski had already been certified but retracted that statement, clarifying that the official certification will happen later this week.

Murkowski, the Republican incumbent who staged a write-in campaign after losing to Miller in the GOP primary, turned to Twitter to celebrate the decision. "Thankful Judge Biestline [sic] lifted hold on certification of Senate race," she said, linking to a news story about the ruling. "Looking forward to serving all Alaskans!"

Beistline said in his ruling that he deferred to the Alaska Supreme Court, which had already ruled against Miller. That court "concluded that Miller's interpretation of the statute 'would erode the integrity of the election system,' and held that 'voter intent is paramount,'" Beistline wrote. "Under the facts presented, this Court declines to second-guess the highest Court of the state."

"It feels great to be in a position where the state can now officially declare Sen. Murkowski the winner of the election," said Kevin Sweeney, Murkowski's campaign manager. "We are now just one step away from this election's conclusion. We anticipated Judge Beistline's order for immediate certification and applaud his recognition that Joe's claims were entirely without merit."

Miller said he was "disappointed with the federal court's ruling" and would continue to explore options to challenge what his camp sees as an unconstitutional election process. "My legal team believes that the clear language of the Election Clause, as well as precedent, support our claims," he said in a statement. "Thus, we are evaluating the ruling and determining what our next step should be."

The tea-party-backed Republican said earlier this week that he wouldn't block the state from certifying a winner but would continue his legal battle over the vote totals. He has in the past suggested he would consider appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story said Lisa Murkowski's victory had already been certified.

CORRECTION: Corrected by: David Cohen @ 12/28/2010 10:27 PM CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story said Lisa Murkowski's victory had already been certified.