Embattled Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) acknowledged over the weekend that casting a vote for Democrat House candidate Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) may not be the best political decision in her race against Republican challenger Kelly Tshibaka.
Murkowski, who was given her Senate seat by her father 21 years ago, announced Friday she would vote for Democrat Peltola over Republican challenger Sarah Palin to win support from Democrats. Alaska’s ranked choice voting system allows cross-party voting, which ultimately affords Democrat voters the opportunity to vote for Murkowski on the second and third ballots.
When asked if she would rank Peltola first on her ballot, Murkowski said, “Yeah, I am,” and then added, “I’m going to get in so much trouble.”
“I know that bothers some people who want me to be that rigid, partisan person, and I’m just not… I do not toe the party line just because party leaders have asked or because it may be expected,” Murkowski continued, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
Murkowski also praised Democrat Peltola as a woman who is a “grounded” Alaskan. “Mary is a woman whose heart is as grounded in Alaska as anybody you’re going to find,” Murkowski said.
Peltola won the special election in August against Palin. As a member of Congress, she has voted with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) 100 percent of the time, including for an additional $12.35 billion in Ukraine funding.
Both Murkowski and the Democrat House candidate are up for reelection in November. In return for her support, Peltola has endorsed Murkowski. “I’m voting for her, so we’re even-steven,” Peltola told the Washington Post.
On Saturday, Murkowski’s challenger, Trump-endorsed Tshibaka, slammed Murkowski for pledging to vote for a Democrat House member that will help Pelosi “push the radical, leftist agenda that is battering Alaska.”
“The only people who want Pelosi to be Speaker are those who like the Biden war on Alaska’s energy workers, high gas prices, runaway inflation, and the Lower 48 taking away Alaska’s freedoms and gun rights,” Tshibaka said in a statement. “This isn’t some principled position – Murkowski has clearly made a political calculation that her only chance to save herself is to go full Biden enabler.”
Pro-impeachment Murkowski was censured in March, 2021, by the Alaska Republican Party and asked to leave. Murkowski has refused. In the last two years, she has voted nine times with Democrats. If reelected, she has pledged to continue to aid the Democrats’ agenda. In turn, Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) backed super PAC has donated about $9 million to Murkowski.
“Murkowski has surrounded herself with the Washington, D.C. elites, but when I’m in the Senate, I won’t be bought, bullied, or bamboozled by Biden, Pelosi, and McConnell,” Tshibaka added. “I’ll fight for Alaska, and that will never change.”
In total, Murkowski has outspent Tshibaka by about $7.5 million, though polling shows Tshibaka is leading by a slim margin. Eighty-five percent of Murkowski’s campaign contributions have come from out-of-state donors, raising questions about where her interests lie.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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