Kelly Tshibaka: Pro-Trump challenger residency issues have caught the eye of Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski

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Murkowski targeted his would-be GOP challenger, Kelly Tshibaka, about the candidate’s ties to Alaska in an interview with CNN, an opening salvo to what could emerge as the most high-profile proxy war between of GOP Senator Mitch McConnell and former President Donald Trump in the midterms next year.

Murkowski pointed to a state investigation into whether Tshibaka illegally obtained a fishing license for a sporting event in 2019 because he had not lived in the state in the past 12 months.

“Alaskans take their fishing very seriously,” Murkowski said. “He had problems with his fishing license and residency problems.”

“That’s not what I care about,” he added. “That’s what others care about.”

Asked what he thinks about his potential opponent, Murkowski said, “I don’t know him. He just returned to the state a few years ago.”

Tshibaka, a former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration, offered himself as a vessel for Trump supporters, who got the former President’s endorsement in June when he began a campaign of revenge against to Republicans like Murkowski, who believe he should be convicted of heinous crimes and misdemeanors for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Tshibaka, who questioned the legitimacy of Biden’s win, had a fresh investigation in Alaska a month after he won with Trump’s support.

The Anchorage Daily News reported that Alaska Wildlife Troopers is investigating whether Tshibaka illegally received a resident sportfishing license for a Kenai River sportfishing event in 2019 because he allegedly received the permit just eight months after he returned to Alaska. The report said willful violation of state law is a misdemeanor subject to a fine of up to $ 300. The Associated Press reported in August that law enforcement officials completed their investigation and referred it to the Department of Law. Alaska. Jenna Gruenstein, the chief Assistant Attorney General of the Alaska Department of Special Prosecutions, told CNN, “The investigation into this matter is still ongoing.”

Tim Murtaugh, a senior advisor to the Tshibaka campaign, said Tshibaka was invited to the charity event in his official capacity as commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration. He said the form was filled out for a license that expired after a day, showing a “clear intent to purchase a non-resident license,” even though there was also a punch in the hole for a license. of the resident.

“Lisa Murkowski is clearly worried about Kelly, if she wants to attack him here,” Murtaugh said.

Tshibaka’s adviser attacked the senator, said he had promised to pardon the Affordable Care Act before voting to keep it, and voted to confirm “harmful” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. “Murkowski has a long record of showing a lack of integrity that is always missing in the jobs, rights, and safety of Alaskans,” Murtaugh said.

Alaska’s career is one of Trump’s top targets where he faces up against McConnell and his over -funded PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund.

Asked on Thursday if his team was willing to get involved to help Murkowski, McConnell told CNN: “True.”

“I really expect him” to run, he added.

Murkowski himself has been coy about whether he will run again, saying Thursday at the Capitol: “I’m not announcing anything at this point in time.”

But he said earlier that “not really” when asked if he had any concerns about dealing with a Trump-backed supporter.

“I’ve worked on these things in the past,” the moderate Republican said, a reference to overtaking a backlash from conservative Republicans in his 2010 career.

Both Murkowski and Tshibaka are proud of their Alaska bona fides. Tshibaka’s campaign website said he was born in Alaska and grew up in Wasilla and Anchorage. Prior to joining the administration of Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, Tshibaka worked in the offices of inspector general for the U.S. Postal Service, Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice in Washington, DC. Tshibaka tried to dismiss Murkowski’s experience in the Senate as a failure, saying Alaskans had “forgotten” the senator.

Murkowski said on his official website that he is “a third-generation Alaskan who proudly serves as the first Alaskan-born senator.” He was first appointed to his post in 2002 by his father, former Governor Frank Murkowski.

Residence issues have dogged Murkowski’s opponents in the past. In 2010, Murkowski lost the main GOP to Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, but eventually conducted a rarely successful writing campaign in the general election. Miller’s critics also picked up stories asking if he fulfilled the residency requirement for a hunting and fishing license when he graduated from Yale Law School.

If he runs, as expected, Murkowski could benefit from a new system where candidates run together in a non-primary party, and the top four graduate forward to the general election, when ranked by voters their preferences.

While Murkowski has not officially entered the contest, Tshibaka has already entered the senator for Alaska’s Republican request for cutting deals with Democrats and breaking from Trump.

But Matthew Shuckerow, campaign manager for Republican Dan Sullivan’s 2020 race, said Murkowski could be rewarded for a deal on a $ 1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that the federal government will send money to rebuild Alaska’s roads, bridges, and harbor.

“Alaskans have grown to expect a congressional delegation to deliver big for our state,” Shuckerow said. “Senator Murkowski, Sullivan and Congressman [Don] The child did that. “

CNN’s Ali Zaslav contributed to this report.

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