Joe Miller finally conceded the Alaska Senate race to Sen. Lisa Murkowski Friday, indicating he would not pursue further legal action in the last unresolved race of the 2010 cycle. 
 
 At a news conference Friday, Miller told a group of supporters he would not appeal Murkowski's 10,000-vote write-in victory, effectively ending two months of legal battles in which the GOP nominee challenged the legitimacy of the incumbent's win. 
 
 On Thursday Murkowski was officially certified the winner, allowing her to be sworn in on Jan. 5 along with the full slate of newly elected senators. Her victory over Miller marks the first time a senator has won as write-in candidate since Strom Thurmond in 1954. 
 
 
 
 Miller had sued the state over what he considered its improper attempts to determine voters's intent, arguing statute required voters to spell Murkowski's name correctly. 
 
 A federal judge ruled against Miller saying that voter intent was paramount and that Miller's interpretation "would erode the integrity of the election system." 
 
 While he declined to attempt an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Miller defended his legal actions Friday saying his challenge will lead to "more transparent, clearer standards" in Alaska. 
 
 "The legal fight has been very involved. It's been a full time job." he said. "This has been good for the state." 
 
 
 
 Despite speculation that he might run for the state's House seat in 2012, Miller said he had not yet contemplated any plans for another campaign. ||||| Posted: 09:30 PM ET 
 
 From CNN’s Abby Livingston and Joe Von Kanel 
 
 Washington (CNN) - Joe Miller is giving up, but he isn’t standing down. 
 
 He also needs Senator Lisa Murkowski’s phone number. Miller won Alaska’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, lost the general election to a write-in campaign waged by incumbent Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, then unsuccessfully challenged the results in court. Today in Anchorage, he told supporters the time has come, " to accept the practical realities of our current legal circumstances. We shall abide by the court's decisions even if we do not agree with them." 
 
 He also sounded a defiant note, adding: “I know for a fact that standing down is not an option, and I will continue to sound the alarm about our state and the nation.” 
 
 Eleven minutes after his news conference, Senator Murkowski’s campaign issued the following statement, “I was glad to learn that Joe Miller has bowed to the rulings of the Alaska courts and decided to abandon his challenges. Although certification was a long time coming, it does not diminish the historic accomplishment of our campaign. All Alaskans, regardless of how they voted, can be assured that I will continue to work in Alaska’s interest for the next six years.” 
 
 In his first interview after his public concession, Miller appeared on “John King, USA,” where CNN’s Ed Henry asked him if he had called Murkowski to personally concede. Miller said, “I have not called her. In fact, I don't have her number.” When asked if he had sought out her phone number through the Alaska GOP, he answered, "Well, I think we already have conceded. We've asked for it before. I don't have it." 
 
 After the brutal campaign, Miller also addressed any unresolved issues with the Murkowski camp, “Well, I'm not going to talk about sour grapes. There are a lot of things during the campaign that obviously I think should have been done differently, but frankly, what this is about is two completely different ideologies.” 
 
 He added, “We have no ill will toward Senator Murkowski. We have absolutely nothing to dispute as far as the finality of this race right now, but we have significant differences of opinion about where this nation needs to head.” 
 
 Miller was also asked if there was anything to be read into his highest profile backer, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, taking a lower profile in the campaign while the courts sorted out a resolution. Miller said, “Not at all. In fact, the argument that was had during the … post-race, is a legal argument. It's not one where campaigning is appropriate. It's not one where somebody gets out and starts making stump speeches for a candidate. Certainly, SARAHPAC donated to our recount fund. We're very gracious to have received that. A number of other groups, a number of other people also donated. Senator Demint was key to assisting in that effort as well, and they certainly continue to stand behind us.” 
 
 Filed under: JKUSA ||||| NEXT STEP: State presses judge to lift block on election certification. 
 
 The Alaska Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled unanimously on all counts against Joe Miller's challenge of last month's U.S. Senate election, saying Miller's interpretation of the law would erode the integrity of Alaska's election system. 
 
 "There are no remaining issues raised by Miller that prevent this election from being certified," the Supreme Court justices declared in their 24-page ruling. 
 
 The court ruled the state was right to count misspelled write-in ballots for Sen. Lisa Murkowki. The justices also found Miller hasn't proved his allegations of election fraud. 
 
 Murkowski leads by more than 10,000 votes and Miller is fast running out of legal options. He still has a chance to quickly press his claim in federal court. 
 
 U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline is giving Miller until Monday morning to argue that the federal courts should take up any remaining constitutional issues. Beistline has blocked the state from certifying Murkowski as the winner of the Senate race while the court issues are being settled. 
 
 The state is asking Beistline to lift his block and he's promised to decide "as soon as possible." 
 
 Miller didn't agree to an interview after the Supreme Court ruling but e-mailed a statement saying he was weighing what his next move will be. 
 
 "We disagree with the court's interpretation of the election code, but respect both the rule of law and the court's place in the judicial system," Miller said. "We are studying the opinion and carefully considering our options." 
 
 Miller has been challenging the results of the Nov. 2 election with the help of money from South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint's political action committee, the Senate Conservatives Fund. Miller's campaign spokesman has said they might attempt to take the fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. 
 
 Murkowski campaign manager Kevin Sweeney said he was elated by the Supreme Court ruling and expects Beistline will let the election results be certified next week. "We also anticipate that Joe will continue to pursue his baseless claims in federal court until his money runs out," Sweeney said. 
 
 50 YEARS OF CASE LAW 
 
 The Supreme Court ruled that state Superior Court Judge William Carey of Ketchikan was right to toss out Miller's lawsuit over the U.S. Senate race. "We affirm the decision of the superior court in all respects," the justices wrote in their ruling. 
 
 Miller's central claim was that the Division of Elections shouldn't have counted write-in ballots for Murkowski if her name was misspelled. The incumbent Murkowski launched her write-in campaign after losing in the Aug. 24 Republican primary to Miller, who ran on a tea party platform with the backing of former Gov. Sarah Palin. 
 
 The Supreme Court said it was relying on 50 years of rulings that emphasized the principle of following voter intent in deciding Alaska's elections. 
 
 "Voter intent is paramount and any misspelling, abbreviation or other minor variation ...does not invalidate a ballot so long as the intention of the voter can be ascertained," the Supreme Court said in its ruling. 
 
 The court said Alaskans who don't speak English as a first language or have learning disabilities still deserve to have their votes count. The court also said federal law explicitly allows misspellings for write-in ballots cast by overseas or military voters. 
 
 "Miller's proposed construction of the statute would require us to impose a different, and more rigorous, voting standard on domestic Alaskans than those who are serving in the military or living abroad," the justices said. 
 
 Miller argued that Alaska law doesn't allow the state elections director to decide what candidate a voter intended to support when a misspelling occurs. 
 
 The Legislature awkwardly phrased the law in dispute. The law says "a vote for a write-in candidate ... shall be counted if the oval is filled in for that candidate and if the name, as it appears on the write-in declaration of candidacy, of the candidate or the last name of the candidate is written in the space provided." 
 
 The state Supreme Court ruled that language needs to be taken in the context of broader Alaska election law, which the justices said is written to ensure that votes are counted and not excluded. The justices said Miller had wrongfully argued that only his interpretation of the law would preserve the integrity of the election. 
 
 "It is Miller's interpretation of the statute that would erode the integrity of the election system, because it would result in disenfranchisement of some voters and ultimately rejection of election results that constitute the will of the people," the court ruled. "We have consistently construed election statutes in favor of voter enfranchisement." 
 
 MILLER DOESN'T PROVE FRAUD 
 
 Even if the Supreme Court had tossed out every ballot challenged by Miller's ballot observers, Murkowski still would win by more than 2,000 votes. And Miller's lawyers have acknowledged that some of those challenges were wrong. 
 
 But Miller also claimed election irregularities that he hoped would take other votes from Murkowski. The Supreme Court shot him down on those claims as well. 
 
 Miller wanted more time to prove his allegations. But the justices wrote that "pure speculation cannot support a fishing expedition for evidence to oppose summary judgment in an election contest." 
 
 One of Miller's claims stated that some Murkowski write-in ballots appeared to have all been written in the same handwriting. The Supreme Court ruled that doesn't mean there was fraud. The justices noted Alaska law lets voters ask elections workers for assistance in voting, including writing the name of a write-in candidate. 
 
 "No reasonable inference of misconduct can arise from the mere fact that the handwriting on multiple ballots appears to be from a small number of people," the court ruled. 
 
 Miller also alleged that more than 5,000 votes were suspect because election workers didn't check a box specifying how they'd verified voter identification. But the court said there is no actual requirement that election workers fill in those boxes. 
 
 Miller's latest claim was that an unknown number of felons voted who shouldn't have. The state said only felons who had their voting rights reinstated had voted. 
 
 Miller made the claim after his lawsuit was already filed and the courts have declined to wade into the issue. The Supreme Court justices left it up to Superior Court Judge Carey to decide if he wanted to let Miller try to prove it. But they said the election results still could be certified if that issue is pending. 
 
 PUSH FOR CERTIFICATION 
 
 Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell said he wasn't too worried about this claim. "There is no evidence that there was any inappropriate activity there," Treadwell said Wednesday. 
 
 Treadwell said he's hoping the election will be certified between Christmas and New Year's. He said the federal courts need to let the state certify the election before the new U.S. Senate is sworn in Jan. 5. Federal Judge Beistline has agreed that's important and said Miller could still pursue legal claims even after it is certified. 
 
 Rick Hasen, an election law expert at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, looked over Wednesday's Alaska's Supreme Court ruling. "At this point, a rational politician hoping for a future in Alaska politics would throw in the towel rather than contesting these results in federal court, in state court after certification, or in the U.S. Senate," he concluded. 
 
 Murkowski tried to make her lead even bigger by arguing that the state should have counted about 1,500 ballots where voters wrote in her name but didn't fill in the oval next to it. 
 
 The Supreme Court considered that along with Miller's lawsuit and ruled the state was right not to count those additional ballots for Murkowski. 
 
 Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham or call him at 257-4344.
– Joe Miller's fight to keep Alaska's Senate race alive ended with 2010. After nearly 2 months of working full-time on legal challenges to Lisa Murkowski's write-in victory, the Republican nominee told supporters yesterday that he plans no further action, Politico reports. Murkowski had been officially certified as winner the day before. Miller said he hadn't conceded to her personally. “I have not called her. In fact, I don't have her number," he told CNN. Miller, whose appeals went as far as Alaska's Supreme Court, says he still disagrees with the rulings against him but he won't appeal the case to federal courts. The time has come "to accept the practical realities of our current legal circumstances," he told supporters. Miller says he doesn't believe the drawn-out battle has hurt him politically and he intends to keep fighting for Tea Party issues, although he has no immediate plans for the future apart from a family trip to Disneyland.