Donald Trumpendosed GOP candidate Kelly Tshibaka was defeated by Republican US Sen. Lisa Murowski.
Tshibaka was defeated in the ranked choice election. The ranked choice results were announced on Wednesday after neither candidate got more than 50% of the first choice votes. After ranked choice voting, Murkowski picked up a majority of the votes cast for Pat Chesbro.
"Alaskans of all regions, background and party affiliations have once again given me their confidence to continue working with them and on their behalf in the U.S. Senate." I'm looking forward to continuing the work.
Tshibaka criticized ranked choice voting in her statement.
She said that the new election system was indisputably designed as an incumbent protection program and that it worked as intended.
Republican Buzz Kelley stopped his campaign after endorsing Tshibaka.
This year, the only Senate Republican who voted to convict Trump at his impeachment trial was the one who was on the ballot. The man was not found guilty. The former president said he would campaign against her.
In 2020, before that year's election and far before Tshibaka jumped into the Senate race, Trump announced plans to campaign against Murkowski after she criticized him. I'm with you if you have a pulse.
He endorsed Sarah and Tshibaka at a rally in July. He took part in a tele-rally for Tshibaka. Tshibaka, who led the Alaska Department of Administration for two years, credited Trump with giving her a boost in her candidacy.
After being censured by state Republican party leaders for offenses that included her impeachment vote, Murkowski paid little attention to Trump during her campaign in which she emphasized a willingness to work across party lines. In the wake of the death of Don Young, the most senior member of Alaska's congressional delegation is a moderate who has been in the Senate since 2002.
A tough reelection fight is nothing new for Murkowski. She won a general election write-in campaign after losing her party primary. She had never won a general election with more than half of the vote.
The 2020 elections were held under a new system that replaced party primaries with open primaries and ranked voting. The top four vote getters regardless of party affiliation advance to the general election. Tshibaka said in her post- election statement that the Alaska U.S. Senate election turned out to be a victory for Washington, D.C.
Tshibaka said that the ads against her could have been used to help Republicans in other states.
She didn't vote for the Republican candidates in the Senate race. She said she didn't think of Murkowski as a red candidate.
On Election Day, Murkowski did not vote for her.
That's right.
Mark Thiessen is a writer for the AP in Alaska.
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