Unalaska, AK – Last night, at the Grand Aleutian hotel, a group of about 20 supporters for write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski gathered through the evening to hear the incumbent senator speak and to raise money for her campaign.

The fundraiser was organized by Unalaskans for Murkowski. Frank Kelty and Mayor Shirley Marquardt, who has endorsed her, helped coordinate the event. The group that gathered had ties to the fishing industry, to the Ounalashka corporation, and to City Council.

Murkowski's supporters listed a number of reasons for backing her. Some talked about her work with the fishing industry. Others brought up her seniority in the Senate. A couple mentioned her personal ties to the community. Many said that they were surprised when she lost the Republican primary to Joe Miller, a former magistrate judge and attorney from Fairbanks. In Unalaska, there was a low turnout relative to other communities in the state, but Murkowski got nearly 80% of the votes that were cast.

Don Graves says that the shock at her loss is why there's more enthusiasm for her now in the general election.

"It's not the major election, so a lot of people are not as interested in it or worried about it," says Graves. "And for Lisa, I think a lot of people felt like she's a lock - she's going to win this -- and so you didn't have that large turn-out in a lot of places."

But while the town is only covered in Lisa material so far, fans of other candidates are also trying to get out the vote for their preferred choice. Tammy Pound is a Scott McAdams supporter, and she says there are a number of people working on getting the Democratic candidate and mayor of Sitka's name out in the community.

"We have him scheduled to do a teleconference on the 27th of October," says Pound. "We're looking at getting some information to hand out and have available to people, some pamphlets and that sort of thing. We're also possibly looking at getting information out door to door and getting some signs up so that people know that he is a candidate, and a viable candidate."

The election will take place on November 2.