Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is seen at the Capitol during a vote on Tuesday, May 25, 2021.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Good pictures
Senate of Alaska. Lisa Murkowski and a top Republican primary contender endorsed by former President Donald Trump will also advance to the general election, NBC projects.
Murkowski and Kelly Tshipaka, a former Alaska Department of Management commissioner, will both advance with Democrat Patricia Chesbro, NBC programs. It is too early to call a fourth candidate in this race.
Alaska has a top-four primary entrance as part of the state’s ranked-choice voting system, adopted by a Ballot Action in 2020 — just in time for Murkowski, who is not guaranteed to emerge from Tuesday’s primary race as the clear favorite.
Both Trump and the Republican Party of Alaska have endorsed Shibaka against incumbent Murkowski for the Senate seat. Trump was highly critical of Murkowski during his presidency, saying in 2018 that he “can never be recovered“After he voted against his second Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanagh.
Trump, the de facto leader of the Republican Party, has vowed to campaign against Murkowski, along with six other Republican senators who voted to convict Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
“I don’t know where everyone else will be next year, but I know where I will be — campaigning against a disloyal and bad senator in Alaska,” Trump said at the time.
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