Murkowski narrows gap in US Senate seat in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The hard-fought race between Sen. Lisa Murkowski and her Republican challenger narrowed as the state began counting thousands of outstanding ballots in Alaska’s GOP primary.

Murkowski picked up 343 votes in the early count today and now trails Joe Miller by 1,325 votes.

The count is occurring statewide throughout the day. The state hopes to count about 15,000 ballots Tuesday — many of them absentees.

Remaining votes could be counted Friday and Sept. 8.