Palin experienced the value of contested primaries firsthand, having toppled Lisa Murkowski’s father, Frank, in a hotly contested 2006 GOP gubernatorial primary that launched the future vice-presidential nominee onto the national stage. Palin couched her endorsement of challenger Joe Miller over Lisa Murkowski as a rejection of the Washington Republican establishment rather than a sign of any “feud or bad blood” between the two women — although media coverage of the move has focused on little else.

“Palin vs. Murkowski” aside, it’s worth asking: Who is Joe Miller?

Miller entered the race against Murkowski in April, with Todd Palin appearing at one of his early fundraisers. His official biography mentions decorated service in the 1990s Gulf War as well as a term as a magistrate judge in Fairbanks, adding that Miller was “the youngest then serving in that federal position, not only in the state, but also in the entire nation.”

Miller, his campaign just confirmed to me, is the same Fairbanks attorney Joe Miller who served as an interior regional chairman of the Alaska GOP during Palin’s time as the state governor. According to wire reports from mid-2008, he aided a failed attempt to remove Randy Ruedrich — a political foe of Palin’s — from command of the state party.

On the legislative front, Palin drew many of the same Miller-Murkowski comparisons that the challenger features on his campaign website. “Joe believes that we must repeal the new Obamacare health care mandate … Lisa opposes repealing the law,” Palin wrote on her Facebook page. (That might come as a surprise to Murkowski, who submitted an op-ed to Alaska local papers last month headlined, “Congress must repeal healthcare plan.”)

Palin also touted Miller’s opposition to cap-and-trade climate change legislation. In fact, Miller goes a bit further on his website by questioning the science behind global warming (“dubious … at best”). Murkowski does state that she thinks “climate change is a real threat that must be addressed,” though so far she has focused more on blocking Environmental Protection Agency authority to regulate emissions than on striking a bipartisan deal to move forward on a climate bill.

The Republican primary for Alaska’s open Senate seat will take place in August.

Who will win? It’s either candidate’s game at this point.

But, there are a few questions I can answer.

Question: Why is it taking so long to count these votes?

Answer: In the last election in Alaska, alleged voter fraud was discovered. About two dozen people are accused of having voted twice — by mailing in an absentee ballot and then casting one in person. Those cases are pending.

To avoid such a problem, the state decided to wait until all of the in-person votes are counted before moving on to the ballots that were mailed in either early or absentee. The state needed to wait a full week before starting to count the ballots to ensure that they all had arrived. Ballots don’t need to be received by Election Day, just post-marked by then.

Question: What happens if Stevens wins?

Answer: Back in Alaska, the state Republican Party will likely support him — as they already have. Then, once he arrives in the U.S. Senate, Stevens would face an ethics investigation and ejection proceedings, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said.

Question: Who gets Stevens’ seat if he is ejected from the Senate?

Answer: Alaska will hold a special election.

After former Gov. Frank Murkowski appointed his daughter, Lisa Murkowski, to his Senate seat in 2004 there was public outcry and the state law changed. Even Alaskans draw a line at allowing a politician to inherit a Senate seat.

There were also rumors at the time that Stevens might try to get his son appointed to his seat if he retired. Stevens’ son, former Alaska Senate President Ben Stevens, saw his state legislative office raided by the FBI in 2006 — during Sarah Palin’s campaign for governor when she ran on an anti-corruption platform.

Question: Can Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin run in the special election?

Answer: Yes, but it’s not certain that she would. She is popular in the state and could probably win, but we’ll have to wait and see on that one.