Insurgents aligned with Palin win in Florida, lead in Alaska

Insurgents appeared headed for victory in two key political contests in stunning demonstrations of strength from the anti-establishment tea party movement and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Rick Scott, a political outsider who advocated an Arizona-style state crackdown in immigrant-heavy Florida, beat the state's attorney general, Bill McCollum, to win the GOP's gubernatorial nomination Tuesday, while U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska's Republican senator, was fighting for her political life in that state's GOP primary against a Palin-backed opponent.

Scott's win was a witness to his personal wealth -- he spent at least $50 million of it on the campaign -- as well as the thirst for political change in the Republican Party of Florida, which has been rocked by scandal and whose leaders worked to stop him cold.

"This is a man who took on the entire establishment, and what he had was the people,'' said Arlene DiBenigno, Scott's political director. "We didn't have a traditional campaign. We had a campaign of people who were tired of the traditional establishment. They are tired of the same old thing.''

In Alaska, Murkowski was trailing Republican primary challenger Joe Miller, a Fairbanks attorney in what could be one of the biggest election upsets ever in Alaska. With 84 percent of Alaska's precincts reporting around 2 a.m., Miller had 45,188 votes to 42,633 for Murkowski.

Miller credited Palin's support for his lead.

"I'm absolutely certain that was pivotal," he said.