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JUNEAU – Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska on Friday said she will run for re-election in 2022, which will set up a race against a major challenger endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Playing his centrist bona fides, Murkowski said in a campaign video that he would work with various party lines to help Alaska and “stand up to any politician or special interest that threatens our way of life. ” Trump has vowed revenge against Murkowski and other Republican lawmakers who supported his impeachment in the Jan. 6 insurgency.
Murkowski told reporters in Anchorage on Friday that there would be “a lot of people out there shooting for me, which would suggest I’m not right for Alaskans. I’ll put that directly on the people of this state.”
“It is very easy to be interrupted by people outside. It is very easy to be distracted by those who say they have something to do, ”she said later. “My focus needs to be on the people of Alaska, serving them and asking their permission for continued service.”
Murkowski is the only Republican senator to vote to convict Trump in his impeachment trial to face re-election next year. The race will be closely watched nationwide as an indicator of Trump’s long -term influence on GOP voters after his 2020 election defeat and will show whether Republicans remain willing to punish lawmakers they believe were unfaithful to the former. president.
In addition to his impeachment vote, Murkowski called for Trump’s resignation after the insurrection in the Capitol on Jan. 6, in which hundreds of his supporters stormed the building in an attempt to prevent certification of President Joe’s election victory. Biden. Trump has since said the people charged in the attack were “unfairly persecuted.”
Murkowski, 64, has been embarrassed about his re -election plans up to this point even though he has raised money. So far, he has outraised his Trump-backed opponent Kelly Tshibaka, according to fundraising reports.
Murkowski filed papers with the State Division of Elections on Friday. He said the campaigns were “too long” and he thought the announcement of nearly a year from the general election was “a lot of time.”
Tshibaka has not yet filed for office but has already filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.
Murkowski’s announcement came days after he announced the passage of a massive federal infrastructure package he called a consequence for economic growth and jobs. He was among 19 Republican senators who joined all Democrats in supporting the $ 1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
“Those who are pushing and saying that a Republican can’t support this measure don’t look at what this law will do for this country,” he said Wednesday.
[Murkowski calls GOP criticism of infrastructure bill ‘petty’]
Murkowski has been in the Senate since 2002, when his father, Frank, chose him to end his unexpired term after he was elected governor. A Murkowski has represented Alaska in the Senate since 1981.
Tshibaka, who sought to appoint Murkowski as an “enabler” of the Biden administration, said Friday that “it is now official that Lisa Murkowski will not relinquish the Senate seat her father appointed her 20 years ago. , but it is very clear that the Alaskans are fed up with him. ”
“It’s time for new conservative leaders with courage and common sense to lead our country forward, and I’m ready to step up to that responsibility,” Tshibaka said.
Murkowski has bucked the Republican Party before. He lost his primary in 2010 to a conservative candidate but went on to win the general election through a write-in campaign.
After the Jan. 6 riot, Murkowski called on Trump to resign from the presidency, telling the Anchorage Daily News, “I want him to resign. I want him out. He has caused enough damage.”
Trump, during his impeachment trial last year, was acquitted on the sole charge of inciting insurrection. He has vowed to punish those who supported his impeachment, and two of the 10 House Republicans who voted for it have said they will not be re -elected.
Murkowski was censored by the Alaska Republican Party in March for his vote to convict, but he was endorsed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which placed its stake in a stable incumbent. In July, the Alaska Republican State Central Committee endorsed Tshibaka, the former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration.
Alaska Republican Party Chair Ann Brown said in a statement Friday that “Tshibaka has garnered the support of conservatives across the state and is working hard to win.”
Murkowski was the only Republican to oppose advancing Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in a procedural vote, expressing concern over allegations of sexual assault made against him. He voted “present” in the final 50-48 vote that elevated Kavanaugh to the high court.
Trump won Alaska with 52.8% of the vote last year, while Biden got approximately 42.8% of the vote. Tshibaka has garnered support from Trump’s allies and recently announced plans for a fundraiser with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida for February.
Alaska voters last year passed an initiative to end party primaries and establish the voting selection rank for the general election. Under the system, the top four who get a vote in a major race, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the general election. A state court judge earlier this year sided with the new voting process. That decision was appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court.
Some candidates have already filed in the state elections office to appear on the ballot, even though there are no Democrats yet.
Lindsay Kavanaugh, executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party, in a statement said Democrats will have a candidate.
“Alaskans deserve rather than choose one side of the proxy war between Mitch McConnell’s candidate and Donald Trump’s candidate. Democrats reject both Republican brands, ”he said.
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