Alaska’s Republican Party is officially backing Kelly Tshibaka’s primary challenge of incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, voting 58-17 to endorse the challenger.
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Tshibaka after his long-fraught relationship with Murkowski disintegrated further over her decision to vote to convict the former president at his second impeachment trial earlier this year. Trump vowed to campaign against “a disloyal and very bad Senator” in March and announced he would not be endorsing the 20-year incumbent “under any circumstances.”
The moves comes after Murkowski was censured by the state party in March, resulting in the state party vowing to “recruit a Republican Party challenger to oppose and prohibit Senator Murkowski from being a candidate in any Republican primary.”
Trump has repeatedly voiced his support to oust Murkowski:
