Republican Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is now trailing her GOP challenger Kelly Tshibaka after she voted to condemn former President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection.
survey of the GOP polling firm Cygnal found that Tshibaka was in the lead in a multiparty primary, winning 33.6% of the vote, compared to Murkowski’s 18.8%.
Al Gross, an independent who was the Democratic nominee for the 2020 Alaska Senate race, came in third with 17.6%.
Tshibaka, Alaska’s administrative commissioner, is viewed favorably by 61% of Trump voters and Republicans.
Murkowski, on the other hand, is viewed favorably by only 10% of Republicans, according to the poll. 87% of Republicans have a negative opinion of the incumbent.
With voters from all parties, Murkowski is viewed favorably by 33% and unfavorably by 63%.
Senator Lisa Murkowski (left) is already losing to a primary GOP opponent after voting to convict former President Donald Trump (right) of inciting insurrection
On Monday, Alaska Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka announced she would seek Murkowski’s Senate seat. Tshibaka edges out Murkowski in multi-party primary, beating incumbent by nearly 15 points
Politico Playbook reported for the first time in the poll on Monday, but the poll was taken at the end of March.
It was then that Tshibaka jumped into the race for the first time.
Bob Lochner, Murkowski’s 2016 challenger, has already put his hat on, but was not included in the Cygnal survey.
Trump took aim at Murkowski in March, say Politico he “would in no way support the failed candidate for the great state of Alaska, Lisa Murkowski.”
“She misrepresents the state and her county even worse,” Trump said. “I don’t know where the others will be next year, but I know where I will be – in Alaska, campaigning against a disloyal and very bad senator.”
Murkowski was one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection during his second impeachment trial.
He has publicly vowed to make them all pay, including listing all of their names in his first major political speech since leaving, at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month.
Tshibaka, whose race was first reported by Fox Newssaid she was running to represent a “new generation of Alaskan conservatives.”
His positions include tough on immigration, pro-Second Amendment and anti-abortion.
Tshibaka is from Alaska and attended high school in the state before attending Texas A&M University and then Harvard Law School, according to the Anchorage Daily Newswho shared a copy of his CV when she was appointed by the Governor of Alaska to head the Department of Administration in January 2019.
Bob Lochner, who ran against Murkowski in 2016, also said he will run against the Republican senator in the primary next year.
She spent nearly 17 years in Washington, DC, working for the federal government during the Bush 43, Obama and Trump administrations.
Tshibaka has worked for the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General, Federal Trade Commission, Director of National Intelligence, and Department of Justice.
The Anchorage Daily News also reported that she and her husband Niki are pastors and started Lighthouse Fellowship while in DC.
On her campaign website, Tshibaka describes herself as a “fighter”.
“I fought to be the first in my family to graduate from college and attend law school. I fought to expose waste, fraud and abuse in government, and I will fight that same fight. in the United States Senate where I will always stand up for Alaskan values,’ Tshibaka said.
Murkowski has not officially announced a 2022 re-election bid, but she has fought Republican challengers before.
In 2010, when former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin backed Murkowski’s Tea Party challenger Joe Miller, Murkowski lost the Republican primary but still won the general election race by mounting a campaign successful writing.
Alaska Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka launched a Senate race on Monday, vying for the seat of Senator Lisa Murkowski. Tshibaka’s website describes her as a ‘fighter’ who spoke out against ‘waste, fraud and abuse’ working for nearly 17 years in Washington, D.C.
