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Trump added, “Kelly Chebaka is the candidate who can defeat Murkowski – and she will. Kelly is a fighter who stands up for the values of Alaska and America First.”
Trump also said he is looking to campaign for Tshibaka in Alaska. Tshibaka launched her bid in March and hired several graduates for the Trump 2020 campaign in an effort to impeach a GOP senator.
Trump has already backed many Republicans in open races as Republican senators retire. But it represented his first endorsement of a candidate seeking to impeach the Republican senator from office. It could cause a headache for Republicans seeking to regain a majority in the Senate.
Murkowski has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics, and the former president vowed to oppose her re-election after she voted to convict him as part of his impeachment trial in February. It was the only republic to be re-elected next year and voted to convict Trump.
A spokesman for the Republican Senate National Committee would not comment, but noted the committee’s previous endorsement of Murkowski. The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC group allied to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, also endorsed Murkowski in April. A spokesperson for Murkowski did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Party challenges are not a new obstacle for Murkovsky. She lost the primary challenge to the Republican Party in 2010 but launched a historic general election registration campaign and won another term. She won a less dramatic re-election in 2016.
The Alaskan race will prove a complex test of Murkowski’s support in the state. Alaska implemented a ranked-choice voting system in which all candidates compete in one primary and the top four advance to the general election, where voters rank their preferences.
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