The 2022 Alaska Senate race poses a host of intriguing questions. Will Democrats nominate their 2020 runner-up Al Gross again? What effect will the state’s new voting process have on the outcome? Might Sarah Palin join the race? Could conflict between grassroots conservatives and the Republican establishment over backing incumbent Lisa Murkowski jeopardize GOP prospects of holding the seat? Will Murkowski even run for reelection? Yet the most pertinent question of all may be whether Donald Trump will spend part of his summer vacation next year visiting the Last Frontier to campaign against her. Trump’s antipathy represents the most immediate threat to Murkowski’s hopes of winning a fourth full term in the Senate. But it’s not the only one. So, while their mutual disdain may have exacerbated her precarious standing, that didn’t cause it. Lisa Murkowski was in trouble well before Donald Trump descended the escalator. If she loses in 2022, the surprising thing won’t be that she does, but that she managed to hold on for so long. Murkowski would have let go long ago if Alaska Republicans had gotten their way. They nearly did in 2010, when she lost the primary to Tea Party favorite Joe Miller. He was endorsed by Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee who burst into the spotlight by ending the political career of Murkowski’s father, Frank. Murkowski’s career, too, seemed over. Yet rather...