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The Republican State of Alaska Central Committee on Saturday approved Kelly Tshibaka in the 2022 race for the seat of the U.S. Senate currently held by Republican Lisa Murkowski.
The committee approved Tshibakah’s approval by 58 to 17 votes at a meeting in Fairbanks.
In a statement, Tshibaka said she would uphold conservative ideals and be a senator Alaskans “can count on to make every decision based on what’s best for our great state.”
Tshibaka announced on March 29 that she would run for the Senate seat held by Murkowski, who has been in power since 2002 and is widely regarded as a moderate. Two weeks earlier, the Republican State Central Committee had voted 53-17 to censor Murkowski, citing his vote to impeach former President Donald Trump and other votes that broke with the GOP leadership. The leaders of the Alaska Republican Party said at the time that they would recruit someone to run against her.
Murkowski said in a statement to the Daily News that she has fought for Alaskan values in the US Senate and will continue to do so.
She has yet to seek re-election, a Murkowski spokesperson said.
“The voters of Alaska will decide who represents them in Washington and I work every day to gain their support,” Murkowski said in the statement.
Tshibaka served as commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration under Governor Mike Dunleavy for just over two years before resigning from his post to run for the US Senate.
Trump endorsed Tshibaka last month, calling it “MAGA all the way.” Trump said in a statement at the time that he would campaign for Tzhibaka in Alaska.
“We are now moving forward with a united front, determined to defend Alaska against the continued assault of the radical Biden administration,” Tshibaka said in a statement on Saturday. “It is time for Conservative leaders, with courage and common sense, to stand up together across the country. “
Murkowski has already seen stiff competition at the polls: in 2010, she suffered a surprise loss to Joe Miller in the Republican primaries, but she won the November general election as a written candidate – the first female senator to do so since over 50 years.
One of the complicating factors in the 2022 election is Alaska’s new ranking voting system, ready to be implemented in a voter-approved initiative that is being challenged in court. Under the new system, which would end party primaries in Alaska, the first four voters in an open primary qualify for the November general election, regardless of party affiliation. This opens up the possibility of having several candidates from the same party on the general election ballot.
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