Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has a 32-point lead over her closest challenger, conservative Libertarian candidate Joe Miller, a new poll found.
Murkowski has 50 percent of the support of registered voters polled, with Miller at a distant 18 percent, according to the Alaska Dispatch News poll conducted by Alaska Survey Research. Democrat Ray Metcalfe had 12 percent, independent Margaret Stock had 7, and 2 percent of those surveyed supported another candidate.
Murkowski lost against Miller in the 2010 Republican primary, but won the election with 39 percent of the vote with a write-in campaign. This year, she leads the polls across all ages of respondents.
The poll found 52 percent of respondents have a "very positive" or "somewhat positive" opinion of her, as well.
The Alaska Research Survey conducted its statewide poll of 660 registered voters by cell phone and landlines from Sept. 28 through Oct. 2. The margin of error is 3.8 percentage points.
A Real Clear Politics average of polls from Oct. 5-6 has Murkowski with a 33-point lead.
The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report/Roll Call rates the race as Safe Republican.
In the third quarter of 2016, Murkowski's campaign has raised roughly $405,341 in contributions. This is more money than any of her candidates have earned from Alaskans, campaign spokesman Robert Dillon said in a news release. The campaign has more than $1.6 million cash on hand.
The poll was conducted before Murkowski withdrew her support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump after crass remarks he made about women were leaked on Friday.
"When I believe somebody is not fit for office, I have to speak up," Murkowski said.
