Lisa Murkowski

WASHINGTON - In the first and only vote Thursday on the immigration bill, senators turned back a Republican measure that would have delayed a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally until after the border with Mexico is fully secure. Republicans still plan to offer several other measures to enhance border security, but this one, from Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, was one of the most hard-line of the proposals. The 57-43 vote to defeat the amendment offered an imprecise test of whether the Senate will find the 60 votes needed to pass the bill.

WASHINGTON - After four months of debate and maneuvering, the Senate headed for a showdown over gun control - a series of back-to-back votes on rival plans Wednesday afternoon that could end in the collapse of the entire effort. The impending climax, after weeks of inconclusive negotiations, came as gun control supporters tried, without apparent success, to get enough senators to commit themselves to a compromise reached last week by Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.)

Lisa Murkowski was certified as the winner of the Senate race in Alaska on Thursday, ending two months of legal wrangling over the seat she has held since 2002. Murkowski has scheduled a swearing-in reception on Jan. 5 in Washington, according to her website. Murkowski will become the first senator to be elected in a write-in campaign since Strom Thurmond in 1954. Joe Miller, a "tea party" movement favorite, won the GOP primary over Murkowski in August, forcing the incumbent to wage her successful write-in campaign.

SEATTLE -- The Environmental Protection Agency is warning that plans for a massive mine in the hills above Bristol Bay in Alaska - home of the biggest sockeye salmon fishery in the world - could have devastating consequences for rivers and streams and wipe out habitat for fish. A study that represents the federal government's first significant scientific assessment of the proposed Pebble mine site concludes that extracting billions of pounds of gold, copper and molybdenum from the region could result in the direct loss of up to 87 miles of streams and nearly seven square miles of wetlands.

The three-way slugfest that many here are calling Alaska's "stranger than fiction" U.S. Senate race settled down Tuesday in a crawl to the polls along slushy streets blanketed with fresh snow, with some campaigns offering voters free rides to the polls. But early voting via absentee ballots already has been heavier than usual, and Alaskans are hardly wimps when it comes to weather ? all sides were bracing for a tense photo finish in one of the nation's most closely watched Senate campaigns, in which Sen. Lisa Murkowski is waging a write-in campaign to hold on to her seat against nominees from both major parties.

In a difficult fight to retain her seat, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has launched a new television ad featuring the endorsement of Ted Stevens, a political giant in the state who was killed in an August plane crash. Reflecting the sensitivity of the move, Murkowski promotes his endorsement carefully in a minute-long ad, first obtained by Politico. It begins with Stevens' daughter, Sue Covich, speaking to the camera about her father's relationship with Murkowski. "My dad and Lisa made a great team for Alaska, and were always loyal to each other and the state they loved," she says.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski held on to an apparent lead Wednesday in her write-in bid to hold on to her Senate seat in Alaska, though "tea party" candidate Joe Miller's campaign leaders said they were not nearly ready to concede. With more than 98% of the ballots counted in the tense, three-way race, write-in ballots had gained 41% of the vote ? a mark considered crucial to success by many analysts ? while Miller still trailed with 34.2%. Democrat Scott McAdams had 23.7%. "This is about our state.

The day before Tuesday's election, 30 mph winds and freezing rain buffeted the state capital of Juneau, but no matter: Mark Vinsel, head of the United Fishermen of Alaska, stood on a street corner waving signs for U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. A week or so earlier, Vinsel and some of his fellow commercial fishermen had mailed 4,000 postcards urging boat captains to write in Murkowski's name on the ballot. They organized phone trees to remind friends and crew members of the senator's work on Exxon Valdez oil spill tax benefits, fishing subsidies and salmon habitat protection.

She wants to be known simply as Lisa. A smart, direct, down-to-earth neighbor who happens to be a U.S. senator. Lisa is running for a second term in this land of the midnight sun, and at the moment is on the campaign trail. The aides shuttling her from event to event wear buttons that display her first name in bold capital letters. Her last name, Murkowski, is reduced almost to fine print. The same is true of her lawn signs and posters all over the state.

With the count of write-in ballots trending heavily toward Lisa Murkowski in the U.S. Senate race, the campaign of Republican nominee Joe Miller announced Thursday it would file suit to gain access to precinct voter records in an attempt to track down what campaign officials said were instances of voting irregularities. Conservative political consultant Floyd Brown, acting as what he called a "volunteer strategist" for Miller, said the campaign had opened a voter fraud hotline to collect reports he said were flowing in to conservative radio talk show programs claiming bullying of voters, threats of job losses and other forms of purported intimidation aimed at garnering votes for Murkowski.

This post has been corrected as indicated below. You'd think a handsome guy like Mitt Romney would not have a problem with the ladies, but his poll numbers show something different. In the 12 swing states that will determine whether he goes to the White House as president or back to one of his many houses as a private citizen, Romney trails President Obama among female voters by a margin of 54% to 36%. Female voters have flocked to the president in the days since contraception popped up as an issue in the campaign.

A team of government lawyers prosecuting Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska never fully reviewed evidence that could have bolstered his defense, was inadequately supervised, and withheld information that would have "seriously damaged the testimony and credibility of the government's key witness," a special counsel said in a report released Thursday. But Washington lawyer Henry F. Schuelke III stopped short of urging criminal misconduct charges against the prosecutors because, he said, the judge in the case never specifically ordered prosecutors to turn over material helpful to the defense.

It was mocked as a congressional prom, a date night and an empty gesture, but bipartisan seating for the State of the Union is back. Sens. Mark Kirk and Joe Manchin -- a Republican and a Democrat, respectively -- will sit together during the president's Jan. 24 speech, the senators announced Friday. They'll join at least 40 others who have agreed to sit with a member of the opposite party, although some have not announced their date. The list is being kept by the nonpartisan group No Labels, which pushed for bipartisan seating last year and is reviving its efforts.

The Senate has rejected a bill that would have blocked funding for implementation of President Obama’s new healthcare law. The 47-53 vote, which broke along party lines, was an expected result in the chamber, which is run by Democrats. The bill fell short of the 60 votes needed to move forward.  The Senate agreed to hold the vote as part of the compromise spending deal negotiated last week. The deal Although it had little chance of passing, Republicans insisted on the vote in order to put Democrats on record as defending the law – which has limited public support.

Lisa Murkowski has been certified as the winner of the Senate race in Alaska, ending two months of legal wrangling over the seat she has held since 2002. Gov. Sean Parnell and Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, who oversees elections, signed the paperwork Thursday morning, according to the governor's office. The paperwork will be delivered to Washington in time for Murkowski to be sworn in next week. That will ensure that there is no interruption in Murkowski's service and seniority. Murkowski, who is on vacation, has scheduled a swearing-in reception for Wednesday in Washington, according to her website.

Lisa Murkowski was certified as the winner of the Senate race in Alaska on Thursday, ending two months of legal wrangling over the seat she has held since 2002. Murkowski has scheduled a swearing-in reception on Jan. 5 in Washington, according to her website. Murkowski will become the first senator to be elected in a write-in campaign since Strom Thurmond in 1954. Joe Miller, a "tea party" movement favorite, won the GOP primary over Murkowski in August, forcing the incumbent to wage her successful write-in campaign.

After a string of her candidates fell short in recent election primaries, Sarah Palin takes a trackside seat in her own state Tuesday as her choice for Alaska's U.S. Senate post takes on the incumbent. Palin's pick, attorney and political unknown Joe Miller, seems to have gained little traction against Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, according to political experts in the state. If Miller loses, it would be the latest setback for Palin's effort this year to propel candidates nationwide through her endorsements.

WASHINGTON - After four months of debate and maneuvering, the Senate headed for a showdown over gun control - a series of back-to-back votes on rival plans Wednesday afternoon that could end in the collapse of the entire effort. The impending climax, after weeks of inconclusive negotiations, came as gun control supporters tried, without apparent success, to get enough senators to commit themselves to a compromise reached last week by Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.)

"Tea party" Republican Joe Miller lost his legal bid Friday to reopen the U.S. Senate race in Alaska that incumbent Lisa Murkowski won in an unusual write-in bid. The decision in state court was a crucial setback to Miller's hope for a full hand recount, though he still can appeal in state and federal courts. State officials moved immediately to end the stay on certifying the election that a federal judge had imposed pending the state court decision. The federal court gave Miller until Monday to file objections to expediting the final federal court process.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski claimed victory Wednesday night over defiant challenger Joe Miller after building a decisive lead in near-final vote tallies. The Republican incumbent persuaded more than 100,000 Alaskans to write in her name ? a highly unusual feat in a statewide race. If her victory holds up through a possible recount and court challenge, she would become the first senator elected by write-in since 1954. "I think we can say our miracle is here," she told about 50 cheering supporters in Anchorage as the state was completing its count of the last 700 absentee ballots.