USA Today: The Associated Press says Sen. Lisa Murkowski has won the Alaska Senate race. The Republican senator is the first Senate candidate to be elected by write-in ballot since Strom Thurmond in 1954. The AP says Murkowski's victory "became clear" when Alaska election officials confirmed they had only about 700 votes left to count, which puts the senator in "safe territory" to beat Tea Party rival Joe Miller, who defeated her in the state's GOP primary.