The first round of absentee ballots has yet to be counted in Alaska's Republican Senate primary, but the campaign of Tea Party-backed Joe Miller spent the weekend accusing his opponent and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) of setting the stage for a legal challenge should Miller emerge the winner.

Miller holds a lead of fewer than 2,000 votes over Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) after last Tuesday's primary. More than 24,000 ballots must still be counted.

In a letter to the state division of elections Sunday, a lawyer for Miller also made an allegation of potential vote-tampering by an election observer connected to Murkowski.

From the Alaska Dispatch:

In the letter, Miller attorney Thomas Van Flein accuses the observer, who he calls Mike, of accessing the Division of Elections computer database for 20 minutes to "check voter records." That Mike had access to private data was bad enough, Van Flein said in a letter, but the Diebold voter software used by the state is also vulnerable to voter hijacking. Miller cites a a 2007 election security report that said such access could lead to "a large scale election fraud" and could happen in less than a minute of unfettered access.

"Does this not require a hand count of each ballot at this point, or an IT audit to verify that no information was accessed, no software installed and no virus exists in the system?" Van Flein wrote in his letter to elections officials.

Van Flein, also a family lawyer for former Gov. Sarah Palin, said the observer used an iPhone to text while observing the count, claiming that the observer could have been "texting" private voter information. Mike was also observed writing notes by hand about voters, Van Flein said.

As a result, Van Flein is requesting troopers be posted at each regional office until the ballots are counted.

Miller spokesman Randy DeSoto claimed over the weekend that calls were going out to Republican primary voters asking which candidate they cast their absentee ballot for. DeSoto pointed a finger at the NRSC.

"It is definitely not being done by the Joe Miller campaign. It is being done, I believe, by the National Republican Senatorial Committee or someone they contracted with as the beginning of a legal battle to throw out ballots," he told the Anchorage Daily News.

The NRSC and the Murkowski campaign both denied they were phoning voters in the state.

The first round of absentee ballots will be counted Tuesday. According to the state division of elections, more than 7,000 absentees will be tallied in the initial count, with subsequent counts set for Sept. 3 and 8.

The news is good for Republicans as the playing field expands and Democratic incumbents scramble to keep their jobs.

NEW ORLEANS — Cedric Richmond, the freshly crowned Democratic House nominee, almost bumped into his Republican opponent, Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao (R-La.), during a Hurricane Katrina remembrance ceremony Sunday.

Richmond was taking a break from visiting morning church services to stop at the ceremony, which was marking the time the Lower Ninth Ward floodwall broke in 2005. After saying hello to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Richmond made his way with the rest of the crowd, which included a brass band playing "Celebration," up the Claiborne Avenue Bridge. In the center of the bridge, Cao and Waters helped drop a commemorative wreath into the water below. 

Richmond, who won the 2nd district Democratic primary Saturday, was congratulated on his victory by several marchers as he walked. Cao also got some attention. "You're doing a great job," one woman told him. 

See photos of the event after the jump.

Carly Fiorina, the Republican Senate candidate from California, will travel to the Middle East over the Labor Day weekend to shore up her foreign policy credentials.

Marty Wilson, her campaign manager, said the candidate wants to be updated on the region, according to the Associated Press.

The trip is funded by the Republican Jewish Coalition, AP reported.

Fiorina, the wealthy former Hewlett-Packard executive, is facing off against Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) in one of this year's most competitive Senate races.

Joe Miller is leading Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska Senate primary by less than 2,000 votes with absentees still being counted.

Gov. Joe Manchin will face businessman John Raese, who lost to Byrd in 2006 and won the Republican primary Saturday.

NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Senate candidate Charlie Melancon previewed his general election message in his victory speech after winning the Democratic nomination Saturday night. 

"David Vitter is hostile to women — in his actions and his record," Melancon said, while surrounded by his wife, daughter and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.). "Putting a violent domestic abuser in charge of women’s issues in his office, voting against equal pay, mandatory mammograms and trying to block protection for women sexually assaulted on the job. And against women nominees for federal positions.

"We deserve a senator who stands up and respects women."

Vitter, meanwhile, will continue to frame the race as a choice between him and President Obama's policies.

"On November 2, Louisiana voters will get to choose between the current Obama policies of 
endless bailouts, failed stimulus, massive debt, and government-dominated health care, represented by Charlie Melancon, or the common sense conservative alternatives I've been advocating," he said in a statement.

Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) celebrates his Senate primary win Aug. 28 in New Orleans with Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and his wife, Peachy.

NEW ORLEANS -- The Democrats' chances of holding Rep. Charlie Melancon's (D-La.) congressional seat improved Saturday when the Republican primary headed to a runoff.

Attorney Jeff Landry (R) was just shy of breaking 50 percent of the vote with all the precincts reporting. Former state House Speaker Hunt Downer, who was once a Democrat, took 36 percent of the vote and will join Landry in the Oct. 2 runoff.

Oilfield manager Kristian Magar finished third with 14 percent. Downer thanked Magar in his statement released late Saturday – a sign he'll target his supporters over the next month. 

"Who says one vote doesn't matter?," Downer said. "Tomorrow, we begin reaching out to those residents of South Louisiana that may not have participated today and look forward to earning the support of those who supported other candidates."

Both Landry and Downer were "On the Radar" of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Attorney Ravi Sangisetty ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Observers speculate that the 3rd district could disappear in redistricting after the 2010 Census is completed in December.

NEW ORLEANS — Freshman Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao (R) will face Democrat Cedric Richmond (D) in November.

The state lawmaker cruised past rivals Eugene Green, former Rep. William Jefferson's (D-La.) one-time chief of staff, and state Rep. Juan LaFonta in Saturday's primary. Richmond had 65 percent of the vote with more than a quarter of the precincts reporting. The Associated Press declared him the winner.

Cao, the first Vietnamese-American elected to the House, holds one of the most Democratic districts in the country. With Republicans looking to recapture the majority in the House, party leaders are hoping his victory in 2008 wasn't a fluke. But he faces long odds to hold his seat.

The National Republican Congressional Committee immediately pointed to Richmond's "baggage."

"His rap sheet includes a misdemeanor charge resulting from a violent bar fight, in addition to a suspended law license from the Louisiana State Bar Association for perjury on an election application," the NRCC said in a memo.

Richmond is a member of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red to Blue program.