ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski trailed her lesser-known conservative opponent Tuesday in a surprisingly tight race that was seen as a test of the political power of Sarah Palin and the tea party movement.

Joe Miller held a nearly 3,000-vote lead with 77 percent of precincts reporting as he looked to pull off one of the biggest political upsets of the year. Miller had 52 percent of the vote, compared with 48 percent for Murkowski.