ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski's write-in campaign is bleeding Democrat Scott McAdams' support, polls in Alaska show.
Murkowksi entered the race as a write-in after losing the Republican primary to Joe Miller.
"There were two schools of thought prior to (Murkowski) jumping in," pollster Ivan Moore told the Anchorage Daily News. "The first was that Lisa would split the Republican vote and lead to the Democrat winning. The second was that Lisa would basically split the anti-Miller vote and basically decimate Scott McAdams' chances. The second is very much what's happening."
Moore often works for Democrats but urged Murkowski to get into the race as a write-in. Another Anchorage consultant, Jean Craciun, released a poll in which 30 percent of registered Democrats were supporting Murkowski and another 15 percent were undecided.
Just because people might choose Murkowski when offered her name as an option in a poll doesn't necessarily mean the same percentage will take the step of filling in a write-in oval and writing her name when faced with a ballot, the report said.
Recent polls show Miller in the lead with Murkowski closely trailing, or, one case, Murkowski leading. All show McAdams a distant third.
