Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) called for a quick resolution to Joe Miller's legal challenge Wednesday, warning that if she isn't seated by January 3, she could lose her Senate seniority. According to the AP, lawyers for Murkowski sought to intervene in the lawsuit Wednesday arguing that not certifying the election results will leave the state without full representation when the new Congress convenes in January.
"There are numerous critical issues facing our nation and Alaskans deserve to have full representation in the United States Senate," Murkowski attorney Scott M. Kendall wrote.
In the motion to intervene in the case, Kendall argued that Murkowski would drop "from her current rank of 43rd to 100th," if she isn't sworn in at the start of the year.
Miller lawsuit claims the state applied a faulty and arbitrary "voter intent" standard to the counting of write-in ballots and wants thousands of ballots thrown out due to improper spelling of Murkowski's name or other irregularities.
Murkowski was declared the winner last week. She leads Miller by more than 10,000 votes and has room to spare even if all of the write-in ballots challenged by Miller were to be thrown out by a judge.
Pressure is still building on Miller to give up his legal fight. In an interview that will air on C-SPAN Sunday, former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) said, "I think that race is over," urging Miller to call it quits.
