Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will not challenge Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) next year -- perhaps a sign that her sights are set on the building 16 blocks up Pennsylvania Avenue from the U.S. Capitol.

From the Anchorage Daily News:

Gov. Sarah Palin plans to raise money for the re-election campaign of Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and hopes to end speculation she might challenge Murkowski in the primary for the U.S. Senate next year.

"The governor has no intention of running for the senator's seat in 2010," Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton said Tuesday. "(Palin) thinks the senator is doing a great job and that's why she's looking forward to hosting a fundraiser for her."

Murkowski, in her first full term in the Senate, was appointed to the seat in December 2002 by her father, Gov. Frank Murkowski, who had just resigned from the Senate after winning the election for governor. Murkowski was elected to a full term in 2004 with 49% of the vote.

Palin, of course, defeated Murkowski's father in the 2006 Republican primary for governor.