Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s chances for re-election might be dead in the water after her latest vote to confirm President Biden’s choice for associate attorney general Vanita Gupta. Sen. Murkowski was the lone Republican to vote to confirm the controversial Justice Department pick.
Gupta raised eyebrows throughout her confirmation process from Republicans over past incendiary comments targeting GOP lawmakers. The DOJ nominee claimed to be remorseful for the past comments even pledging to conduct herself in a strictly nonpartisan manner going forward even if she wasn’t confirmed, yet days later was caught liking a tweet calling former UN ambassador Nikki Haley a snake.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz called out Gupta’s flip-flopping before her nomination was sent to the Senate for a vote. “Gupta’s talk is cheap. She is a partisan ideologue.”
Senator Chuck Grassley also noted Gupta’s startling rhetoric towards Republican lawmakers, some of which were in the same room during her confirmation process.
“Her Twitter feed has painted Republicans with a broad brush, describing our national convention last year as three nights of quote-unquote ‘racism, xenophobia, and outrageous lies,'” Grassley said. “How many of our colleagues in this room were there? Of course, Ms. Gupta has in fact launched Twitter attacks on some of them directly. Will that kind of partisan political advocacy affect her legal advocacy in her role where she represents all Americans?”
However, it seems the dangerous rhetoric towards her Republican colleagues wasn’t enough to convince Sen Lisa Murkowski to vote alongside every other member of her party as Gupta was confirmed Wednesday afternoon along party lines.
Murkowski has repeatedly sided with Democrats on controversial nominations and policies in the past, even voting to convict former President Trump during his second impeachment trial earlier in the year. However, this vote might be the final straw to turn the rest of the party against her for good.
The Alaskan senator’s impeachment vote earned ire from Trump who has stepped into a sort of “kingmaker” role within the party. Trump vowed to support Republicans seeking to challenge and unseat the Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of his impeachment, specifically naming Murkowski as one Republican he wants to go. So far, the candidates Trump has issued endorsements for are polling higher than other contenders.
Bad news for Murkowski but good news for the Republican Party.
