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Joe Miller is giving up, but he isn’t standing down.

He also needs Senator Lisa Murkowski’s phone number. Miller won Alaska’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, lost the general election to a write-in campaign waged by incumbent Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, then unsuccessfully challenged the results in court. Today in Anchorage, he told supporters the time has come, " to accept the practical realities of our current legal circumstances. We shall abide by the court's decisions even if we do not agree with them."

He also sounded a defiant note, adding: “I know for a fact that standing down is not an option, and I will continue to sound the alarm about our state and the nation.”

Eleven minutes after his news conference, Senator Murkowski’s campaign issued the following statement, “I was glad to learn that Joe Miller has bowed to the rulings of the Alaska courts and decided to abandon his challenges. Although certification was a long time coming, it does not diminish the historic accomplishment of our campaign. All Alaskans, regardless of how they voted, can be assured that I will continue to work in Alaska’s interest for the next six years."

In his first interview after his public concession, Miller appeared on “John King, USA,” where CNN’s Ed Henry asked him if he had called Murkowski to personally concede. Miller said, “I have not called her. In fact, I don't have her number.” When asked if he had sought out her phone number through the Alaska GOP, he answered, "Well, I think we already have conceded. We've asked for it before. I don't have it."

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