Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) appeared to run away from a reporter’s question about her staff members’ involvement in changing state election law, as seen in a video released by Project Veritas.
Project Veritas press secretary R.C. Maxwell questioned Murkowski outside of an Americans for Prosperity event after Project Veritas reportedly revealed that several of Murkowski’s former staffers pushed for Alaska’s Ballot Measure 2 to secure Murkowski’s reelection.
In 2020, Alaska voters approved Ballot Measure 2 by a margin of roughly 4,000 votes. That ballot measure ended the two-party primary system for Alaskan elections. Now, Alaska will hold ranked choice voting, where the top four vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
Alaska’s upcoming primary on August 16 will be the first election held under the new ranked choice voting scheme.
Murkowski’s staffers revealed they spearheaded Ballot Measure 2 because they “had Sen. Murkowski in mind the whole time” and “wanted Lisa to get reelected,” according to video footage released by Project Veritas.
During the interaction, Maxwell repeatedly asked Murkowski about her staffers’ comments, but the senator continued to walk away from him.
“Mrs. Murkowski, do you have a comment about Ballot Measure 2 and your staffers saying that actually, that was a coordinated effort to ensure your reelection?” Maxwell asked Murkowski.
“Ballot Measure 2 was an initiative led by the people in the state of Alaska,” Murkowski said in one part of the video clip.
“All of us here in this state now are living with a new system, and it’s new for all of us,” she added.
“Your staff members are saying that it was about guaranteeing your reelection,” Maxwell said.
“Nothing can guarantee an election,” Murkowski replied.
Multiple security guards eventually escorted Maxwell away from the scene after Murkowski fled.
Republican Kelly Tshibaka, Murkowski’s challenger whom former President Donald Trump endorsed, blasted the senator and her team for manufacturing “a change in state election law to specifically benefit her and preserve her grip on dynastic power.”
“Lisa Murkowski has never gotten a majority of the vote in her Senate elections, yet she believes that our Senate seat belongs to her – probably because her own father appointed her to the position 21 years ago,” Tshibaka said.
“These videos confirm her political team engineered a change in state election law to specifically benefit her and preserve her grip on dynastic power,” she said. “But this Senate seat belongs to the people of Alaska, not just people named Murkowski, and we’re going to take it back no matter what deceptive political games she tries.”
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.