Ruedrich closes by saying that even if challenged ballots for Murkowski that misspell her name or have questionable penmanship are tossed, Murkowski will still lead Miller by about 2,200 votes.

Ruedrich’s vigorous defense of the ballot-counting process and the validity of the results is un surprising given his contentious history with Miller. Although Ruedrich and the state party backed Miller after he defeated Murkowski to win the GOP primary, the two men have sparred in the past.

Miller’s most famous early backer, former Gov. Sarah Palin, made a statewide name for herself as a whistleblower in 2003, by going public with her claims that Ruedrich was doing political work on the job when they worked together on the state oil and gas commission.