By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska Republican, officially was named the winner of the state's U.S. Senate race Thursday, following a legal battle that lasted longer than the write-in campaign she waged to keep her job.
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by Republican Joe Miller and lifted a stay on certification of Alaska's U.S. Senate election, clearing the way for Sen. Lisa Murkowski to officially be declared the winner.
Republican Joe Miller said he won't stand in the way of incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski's certification as the winner of Alaska's U.S. Senate race, but he vowed to continue his legal fight over the state's handling of the vote count.
Alaska's bitterly contested Senate election went to state court Monday when Republican Joe Miller sued the state over the way write-in ballots for his GOP rival have been counted.
A federal judge has granted a temporary injunction halting the certification of Alaska's hotly contested Senate election — an order that requires Republican candidate Joe Miller file a formal challenge of the vote count in state court.
A federal judge on Wednesday stopped companies from developing oil and gas wells on billions of dollars in leases off Alaska's northwest coast, saying the federal government failed to follow environmental law before it sold the drilling rights.
Judge Beistline also said he could not find the methods used by the state in counting write-in ballots to be "unreasonable."
Judge Beistline said Mr. Miller's technical arguments shouldn't be read as "frivolous, for it's easy to understand his view" on the reading of the law.
