Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) are bucking party lines to offer endorsements in their competitive midterm races, backing each other against their Trump-aligned opponents.
Murkowski is seeking to fend off a challenge from Republican opponent Kelly Tshibaka, who was endorsed by Donald Trump as the former president seeks to unseat the incumbent for her vote to convict him during his second impeachment trial in January 2021. Murkowski was later censured by the state party, who said they’d reject her as a Republican on the midterm ballot.
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Tshibaka has sought to position herself as a “MAGA” candidate, aligning herself with Trump and promoting his claims that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, Peltola is seeking to advance to a full term after defeating former Gov. Sarah Palin in an August special election to fill the seat of the late Rep. Don Young. Peltola made history as the first woman to hold the seat and as the first Alaska Native to be elected to Congress. She and Palin will face off in a rematch in November.
Murkowski praised Peltola’s history-making during a campaign event on Friday, telling reporters she plans to vote for the Democrat in the November election.
“Mary is a friend,” Murkowski said. “We have been friends for 25 years, and the fact that we’re Republican and Democrat has never interfered with that friendship.”
Peltola responded to those comments, noting, “I’m voting for her, so we’re even-steven,” according to the Washington Post.
Both races remain razor-thin just two weeks ahead of Election Day, according to national polls. Murkowski leads Tshibaka by just 1 percentage point, according to a recent Alaska Survey Research poll.
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In the House, Peltola leads Palin 53% to 47%, according to a recent AARP poll. However, those odds may be in flux due to the state’s new ranked choice voting system.
Through ranked choice voting, Alaska voters will get to rank all of the candidates on the ballot in order of preference. After the first round of tabulation, if no one receives more than 50% of the vote, the candidate who came in last is eliminated, and counters begin to tabulate voters’ second-choice rankings. The process is repeated until a candidate garners more than 50% of the vote.
