Incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska (RINO-AK) is at risk of losing the seat she has held for 20 years to a rival supported by former President Donald Trump and is a member of her own party.
According to the election forecasting website FiveThirtyEight, a Republican has an approximately 99% probability of winning the Alaska Senate election next month. Republican challenger Kelly C. Tshibaka is seen as the candidate with the best chance of winning at 53%.
Murkowski and Republican opponent Tshibaka are currently battling in a close race after the incumbent senator sparked controversy by endorsing the impeachment of former President Trump. Tshibaka is an America First Trump supporter and former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration.
Because voters passed ranked-choice voting in the state’s elections in a ballot initiative in 2020, both Tshibaka and Murkowski will be on the ballot in 2022 despite belonging to the same party. In the state’s nonpartisan blanket primary held in August, the two came out on top. They will compete against Democratic candidate Patricia Chesbro in the general election in November.
Murkowski has drawn criticism for her support of impeaching President Trump and for reaching out to Democrats. Her detractors charge that she hasn’t done enough to oppose Vice President Biden’s agenda.
Murkowski was initially appointed to the Senate in 2002, and she has long been a swing vote during partisan Senate battles, ranking in as the second most liberal Republican senator, according to a 2017 GovTrack. Her ranking put her to the left of Senator Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELAfter voting to convict Trump during his second impeachment hearing, Murkowski received criticism from the state’s Republican Party. As a response, she vowed to find a challenger to take her place in the Senate. Despite Trump’s campaign against her, she enjoys the support of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, who put his support behind the veteran senator.
As for McConnell, he did a great job with getting Trump judicial nominees through the Senate’s confirmation hearings, but outside of that role, he’s really not a great leader for America First policies. In fact, he’s an establishment RINO.
Alaska would do itself proud if they elected Tshibaka over Murkowski because then they would at least know where their senator stood in the political scheme of things.
