Despite betraying 45th President Trump by voting to convict him in the Democrats’ failed impeachment trial following the January 6 incursion of the U.S. Capitol, embattled Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is running for reelection, she announced on Friday.
Fox News reports:
“My heart is, and always has been, in Alaska, and that’s why I am proud to announce my campaign for reelection to the US Senate in 2022,” the senator said in a campaign video announcing her candidacy.
“Since my first election, I committed to work tirelessly on your behalf to expand opportunities for our people, support Alaska‘s job-creating industries and help give voice to hardworking families and business owners,” Murkowski emphasized. “I pledged to be Alaska, always. I’m still committed to those values and meeting the challenges Alaskans face today by building on my record of working together to secure historic victories that lift Alaskan communities.”
BREAKING NEWS: I am excited to announce that I’m running for re-election to continue representing the great state of Alaska.
Watch more on why I’m running to be your independent voice! pic.twitter.com/afTzZSQ0qT
— Lisa Murkowski (@LisaForSenate) November 12, 2021
Trump’s vowed to come to Alaska to campaign against the senator. And earlier this year he endorsed Murkowski’s GOP primary challenger, former Alaska commissioner of administration Kelly Tshibaka. Several leading members of Trump’s 2020 presidential reelection campaign are working as senior advisers on Tshibaka’s campaign, and Trump’s scheduled to hold a fundraiser for her in February at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump’s vowed to come to Alaska to campaign against the senator. And earlier this year he endorsed Murkowski’s GOP primary challenger, former Alaska commissioner of administration Kelly Tshibaka. Several leading members of Trump’s 2020 presidential reelection campaign are working as senior advisers on Tshibaka’s campaign, and Trump’s scheduled to hold a fundraiser for her in February at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Murkowski was first installed in the Senate in 2002 when her father, Frank Murkowski, who was elected governor, appointed her to his old seat. She lost her reelection primary bid in 2010 to a conservative Republican. However, through a write-in campaign, she was able to cling onto power. It is unclear if her political sway is as powerful as it once was a decade ago.
