Write-ins lead in Alaska Senate race

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Republican Rep. Don Young and Gov. Sean Parnell won in Alaska Tuesday, but the outcome of the U.S. Senate race remained in doubt, returns showed.

The closely watched Senate race was up in the air, with Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski very possibly leading a three-way race against Republican Party nominee Joe Miller and Democratic nominee Scott McAdams, NBC News reported.

With more than 80 percent of votes counted, write-in candidates were polling at 40.18 percent to 34.74 percent for Miller and 24 percent for McAdams. It was not possible to tell how many of the write-in votes went to Murkowski, who waged a write-in campaign after losing the GOP primary to Miller, who had Tea Party support and the backing of former Gov. Sarah Palin.

Murkowski, who had the support of the Alaska business and political establishment, spent more than $1 million on her write-in campaign stressing her experience, seniority and leadership. The last successful U.S. Senate write-in candidate was Strom Thurmond in South Carolina in 1954, the Anchorage Daily News said.

Young extended his tenure as Alaska's only congressman to a 20th term and Parnell was elected to his first full term in the office he stepped into when Palin resigned.