Miller Says He's Ending Legal Fight, Conceding

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Republican Joe Miller is ending his fight over Alaska's U.S. Senate seat, conceding the race to his bitter rival, incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Miller's decision, announced Friday at a news conference in Anchorage, comes one day after the state certified Murkowski as the winner.

This ends what started as a promising campaign for Miller, a tea party favorite who upset Murkowski in the GOP primary, in his first bid for statewide public office.

He was widely seen as the favorite for winning in the fall election. But then Murkowski re-emerged as a wild card, launching a long shot write-in campaign.

Miller's own campaign began to unravel with revelations about his past and the handcuffing of a journalist by his security overshadowing his message of limited government and fiscal restraint.