Joe Miller has filed paperwork indicating he has raised more than $5,000 for a possible run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Mark Begich in the 2014 election.
Miller could not be reached for comment on whether the filing indicated a run for that office, or whether he is just continuing to explore that option.
Miller, of Fairbanks, lost the Senate primary in 2010 to a write-in campaign by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski during a three-way race for that seat. He announced via a widely-reported email last month that he had launched an exploratory committee. The form filed by Miller early this month indicates some level of fundraising has begun. The candidate designated Citizens for Joe Miller, with Treasurer Bernadette Koppy, as his campaign committee.
News reports on the filing, including an article in politico.com seeming to state that Miller is running, set some political sites abuzz. Miller’s own site, joemiller.us, Tuesday afternoon contained a column penned last month discussing a possible run. “The choice before Alaskans in 2014 will be stark,” Miller wrote. “Voters must choose between the easy lies of an insider politician and the hard truth of a reformer. As of the writing of this article, I am unaware of another potential candidate who has demonstrated a willingness to challenge the status quo, and confront the culture of corruption that reaches to the highest levels of American government.”
A call to Miller’s office at Restoring Liberty was not immediately answered.
Miller was recently ordered to pay court fees to the online publication Alaska Dispatch over a public records lawsuit, fees exceeding $80,000.
If a recent poll is to be believed, Miller could face an uphill battle simply in the primary.
A poll of 379 people conducted for a group trying to draft former Gov. Sarah Palin into the senate race, taken between May 6 and May 7 (found at harperpolling.com), matched up Miller against Palin and potential candidate and current Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell.
“Former Governor Sarah Palin leads a Republican primary ballot with the three most likely candidates: Palin, Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell and 2010 GOP Senate nominee Joe Miller,” the pollsters concluded. “Palin leads slightly among both men and women at +1 percent and +4 percent respectively. Among voters who describe themselves as “very conservative”, Palin’s lead grows to 20 percent over Treadwell (43-23 percent).”
The same poll handed Palin a commanding lead should Treadwell not run.
“In a head-to-head match-up against Miller, who has officially formed an exploratory committee, Palin leads 52 percent-19 percent,” the poll found. “Treadwell leads Miller 45 percent-26 percent in a hypothetical match-up.”
