Kyle Bell

One week after the Alaska Republican Senate primary we have a winner. Senator Lisa Murkowski conceded defeat in a phone call to her Sarah Palin-backed far-right challenger. Joe Miller, who led by 1,668 votes after last week’s primary, was leading by 1,100 votes once counting resumed today. Some 16,000 votes had yet been counted as of last Wednesday, mostly mail-in absentee ballots and disputed ballots.

Murkowski’s defeat is the latest in a string of upsets for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who has also seen more traditional and mainstream Republican candidates lose or forced out in Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Nevada and Utah. The Tea Party victories jeopardize three Republican-held seats (Florida, Kentucky and now Alaska) and Democrat-held pick-up opportunities in Colorado and Nevada.