Sarah Palin-Backed Candidate Joe Miller Cited in Minor Car Crash in Alaska

Joe Miller, the Sarah Palin-endorsed candidate who upset incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska Republican primary, was involved in a three-car crash in Fairbanks just days after the Aug. 24 contest.

The conservative lawyer was cited for failing to "exercise due care to avoid a collision" after he rear-ended another vehicle, which then hit the back of a third car, the Associated Press reported. No one was hurt, police said, although Mark Lewis, driver of the third car, reported some cervical stiffness and numbness in some of his fingers. Lewis also got a ticket for stopping on a highway.

The 43-year-old Miller's campaign manager, Roger Campbell, said he didn't think Miller would contest the citation. Miller was only going 35 mph and had no time to brake after the first car came to a dead stop, Campbell said.

Murkowski conceded her close race with Miller on Aug. 31. Little known before the campaign, Miller picked up steam after getting Palin's endorsement and help from the Tea Party movement. He also may have been helped by a parental notification abortion issue on the ballot. Both candidates favored notification, but Murkowski is pro-choice on some abortion questions.

Miller holds a six-point lead in his November contest against Democrat Scott McAdams, the mayor of Sitka, according to a recent Rasmussen Reports survey.