Murkowski Still Considering a Third-Party Run

Politico's Shira Toeplitz reports that despite Sen. Lisa Murkowski's concession to Joe Miller last week and the Alaska Libertarian Party's announcement that it would not allow her to run on its ballot, she has not yet given up on re-election. Scott Kohlhaas, chairman of the Alaska Libertarian Party, confirmed to Toeplitz that he's been in talks with Murkowski's campaign since her concession and his party's announcement that they would not be replacing their candidate, David Haase:

If Murkowski wants to stay in the race, she has two remaining options: Run as a write-in candidate, or attempt to take the place of the Libertarian Party nominee on the ballot.

Murkowski must overcome several hurdles to pursue the latter option. Not only would Haase have to remove himself from the ballot, but the state executive committee would have to approve Murkowski's candidacy by Sept. 15. The Alaska Libertarian Party, however, already voted on Aug. 30 not to allow Murkowski on the ballot because of ideological differences -- a vote that Kohlhaas said will not be reversed.

Still, Kohlhaas described the talks between the party and Murkowski's campaign as "fruitful and constructive, frank and open."

"We warned them," Kohlhaas said. "But if they want to talk, we'll talk. They're climbing Mount McKinley here, but if they're willing to talk, we always said we would."

Read the full story at Politico.