In a bid to regain control of the House and Senate, former President Donald Trump has backed a wide variety of individuals running for Congress around the country. The overwhelming majority of Trump-backed candidates won their respective primaries and will now face their Democratic opponents in the coming weeks.

Defeating an incumbent is tough unless the incumbent has performed poorly or is seen differently than when originally elected. However, there are competitors gaining ground on the incumbents, as indicated by polling data.

Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski is a 21-year incumbent who supported impeachment. She has been challenged by Kelly Tshibaka, who is backed by Trump.

As part of the state’s ranked-choice voting system, which was implemented by a voter initiative in 2020, Alaska has a top-four primary barrier. Both Murkowski and Tshibaka will progress to the midterm election under this approach.

Conservatives view Murkowski, whose father handed her the seat 21 years ago, as a RINO. Her affiliation with Democrats in Washington, D.C. has been attacked. In the past two years, she has voted nine times with the Democrats, including votes to spend enormous sums of public money that supported inflation. In 2021, she voted to impeach former President Donald Trump and has demonstrated her support for abortion in a pro-life state.

In addition, if reelected, Murkowski has committed to collaborate with the Biden administration. “I’m working with them to advance things,” she stated in reference to Biden’s enormous government spending packages, notably the inflation-inducing infrastructure bill of the Biden administration.

The commitment is not unexpected. Murkowski has voted to confirm several of President Joe Biden’s cabinet appointments, including Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who has spearheaded the assault on Alaska’s energy producers with two dozen unilateral actions, jeopardizing tens of thousands of energy jobs.

“We knew before the vote that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland would be against our jobs, that she was out to get our jobs, and she hasn’t disappointed on that front,” Matt Coday, president of the Oil & Gas Workers Association, said last week at the Energy Summit hosted by Tshibaka.

“And for Lisa Murkowski, for her to cast the tie-breaking vote to advance her confirmation, it’s really a slap in the face of every American who works in this industry,” he added.

Tshibaka, on the other hand, is a former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration and has the support of both former President Trump and the Alaska Republican Party.

More on this story via The Republic Brief:

Trump has been vocal against Murkowski after she voted against his SCOTUS nominee Cavanaugh, and did vote to convict Trump for allegedly inciting the Jan 6 events. He has been just as vocal in supporting Tshibaka, saying this past year, “I do not know where other people will be next year, but i know where I will be – in Alaska campaigning against a disloyal and very bad Senator.”

Tshibaka has gained three endorsements from candidates who have dropped out of the race, an important factor amid the ranked-choice voting system. Coalesced support behind Tshibaka means fewer votes may slip away to Murkowski in the balloting process. CONTINUE READING…