By DAN JOLING

Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Backed by the Tea Party Express and Sarah Palin, a little-known conservative lawyer from Alaska -- and an Osborne native -- became the latest newcomer to the national political stage to take down an incumbent in 2010.

In arguably the biggest political upset of the year, Joe Miller claimed the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate when incumbent GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski conceded Tuesday evening.

Miller's win was a big victory for the tea party movement. It was the first time it had defeated a sitting senator in a primary.

Tea partiers had knocked off Utah Sen. Bob Bennett at a state convention in May, and emboldened organizers now have their sights set on Delaware, where they are backing Christine O'Donnell against the more moderate Rep. Mike Castle in the GOP Senate primary.

Miller, 43, said late Tuesday he'll campaign this fall on transferring power and control over resources from the federal government to Alaska and the other 49 states.

The state has long been heavily reliant on federal money to run -- a legacy largely carved out by former Sen. Ted Stevens before his death in an August plane crash.

But the government's impending financial crisis eventually will force a reduction in funding to the state, Miller said by phone from Fairbanks.

"We have to be prepared for that, and the way to do it, of course, is to progressionally transfer holdings of the federal government to us," he said. "And of course, also by reducing federal regulatory burdens over the lands that we do control so that we can develop them more freely and more economically."

Murkowski is the third senator to lose this year amid deep dissatisfaction with the Washington establishment. Bennett and Arlen Specter, D-Pa., were the others. Specter grew up in Rusell.

Murkowski trailed Miller -- an Ivy League-educated lawyer, West Point graduate and decorated Gulf War veteran -- by 1,668 votes after the Aug. 24 primary.

Election officials began counting absentee and outstanding ballots Tuesday, and Murkowski made slight gains. But after more than 15,000 ballots were counted, she remained 1,630 votes behind.

"We all know that this has been a long week, a terribly long week," she said at campaign headquarters while conceding.

She said that while there still were outstanding votes, "I don't see a scenario where the primary will turn out in my favor, and that is a reality that is before me at this point in time."

"And for that reason, and for the good of the state of Alaska ... I am now conceding the race for the Republican nomination."

The stunning result was a huge validation of the political power of Palin as the former Alaska governor has been playing kingmaker in midterm elections ahead of a potential 2012 White House run.

Miller cast Murkowski as too liberal and part of the problem in an out-of-control Washington. It is a campaign strategy that has helped oust other incumbents this year and that Republicans will employ again in November as they look to take back Congress.

Miller will face Democrat Scott McAdams, a small town mayor, in the November general election. The former commercial fisherman was given little chance against Murkowski, and as of June 30 had raised less than $10,000.

But Democrats figure his chances are better against Miller, and they plan to present him as a moderate, rational alternative.

"Lisa Murkowski is a class act who always put Alaska first," McAdams said in a statement late Tuesday. "By contrast, lawyer Joe Miller ran an unfair, nasty campaign that didn't extend to Lisa Murkowski the respect she deserves."

After keeping a low profile for much of the race, Palin recorded a robocall for Miller in the campaign's final days and touted him as a "man of the people" on her Facebook page. She also repeated a claim that Murkowski had waffled on her position on repealing the federal health care overhaul -- claims the senator has called false.

Aside from a failed legislative bid in 2004, the Kansas-raised Miller had no experience running in political races before jumping into the race to take on Murkowski. He is friends with Sarah and Todd Palin, and they both endorsed him.

Miller also had the blessing from within the tea party crowd. The California-based Tea Party Express said it spent nearly $600,000 to help Miller -- most of that in the race's final weeks, when Miller's camp said it sensed momentum was on its side.

Who is Joe Miller?

Born in Osborne, Miller said his family lived in Glen Elder and moved to Salina in 1971.

"I grew up in farm country," Miller said. "I liked the wide-open spaces and the quail and pheasant hunting."

Miller said he always had been interested in politics but really started getting involved in high school when he participated in debate, forensics and student congress.

After graduating from Salina Central High School, Miller accepted an appointment to West Point, where he began his training in the U.S. Army.

Miller graduated from West Point in 1989 and attended platoon leader certification training at Fort Knox before joining up with the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley.

From Fort Riley, Miller would head off to fight in the first Gulf War from December 1990 through summer 1991. When he returned home, Miller decided to attended Yale Law School.

"I had a choice of Yale, Harvard and Chicago," Miller said. "I felt it was a better school, and it fit my options better. I was very pleased with my decision."

During his time at Yale, Miller began seeking places to clerk and applied in Anchorage and Wichita between his second and third years at the school. Miller said he was accepted to clerk at both places, but chose to move to Alaska.

"It was hard leaving Kansas, but Alaska has caused the heartache to be much less pronounced," Miller said.

* CHRIS HUNTER, Special to The Hays Daily News