text: Sullivan takes early lead in GOP Senate race | Peninsula Clarion
  Tuesday, August 19, 2014 11:25pm
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Former state Attorney General Dan Sullivan held a lead in early primary returns in the fight to be the Republican candidate to take on U.S. Sen. Mark Begich in the fall.
  Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell was in third.
  The Republicans are vying to face Begich, who easily won his primary, who faced no real opposition from other Democrats.
  Sullivan is from Ohio, but his wife is from Alaska and his roots here date to the 1990s. He left the state in 2002 for stints in George W. Bush's administration and overseas with the military, before returning in 2009 and being appointed attorney general by Palin.
  "Voters are going to make the decision today. I'm proud of the campaign we ran," he said, adding: "We have not left any stone unturned."
  Palin, who has little to do with state-level politics since resigning in 2009 and becoming a paid contributor for Fox News, re-emerged to support an oil tax referendum that also is on the ballot — if successful, it would restore the tax system she championed as governor — and to endorse Miller.
  Miller is largely considered a wild card and long shot, but he's running a race that smacks of 2010, when he upset Murkowski in the GOP primary, though he ended up losing to her in the general election after she ran a write-in campaign.
  He has a network of loyal supporters, attention from conservative talk radio hosts and endorsements from anti-abortion and tea party-style groups. While he exuded confidence in the race's final days, Miller said late Tuesday afternoon, after being greeted warmly by sign-waving supporters along a busy Anchorage street, that he did all he could do.
  Supporter Amy Walker of Palmer, who was sign-waving for Miller, said she didn't think about voting for anyone else, calling Miller a "champion for liberty."
  Treadwell has cast himself as the "electable" conservative, in contrast with Miller. Treadwell also has played up his decades-long ties to the state, as opposed to Sullivan. He believes his knowledge of Alaska issues, from fisheries to aviation, make him the strongest candidate to challenge Begich. His endorsements include four-time Iditarod champ Martin Buser and astronaut Buzz Aldrin, which came near the end of the race.
  Campaign manager Peter Christensen, out sign-waving Tuesday morning across the street from a clutch of Miller supporters, said some people don't start to follow a race until it's nearly over. He said endorsements tend to work that way, too.
  Treadwell, who struggled to race money after Sullivan jumped in, said he was proud of the race he ran and would do what he could to bring the party together after the bruising primary.
  "In terms of the money issue, whatever happens tonight, the fact that we were in contention, solidly in contention, being outspent 4-to-1 by huge outside money, is significant," he said. "And I am very grateful to Alaskans who respected our record and respected our positions and respected our ability."