Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is running for a fourth term in office, she announced Friday.
Her campaign released a video painting Murkowski, known for regularly voting with Democrats, as a lawmaker who can withstand the “political winds” with her “strong, steady, principled leadership.”
The narrator called Murkowski a “one-of-a-kind senator” who “has earned the respect of her colleagues in both parties.”
Murkowski said that she is running for reelection “to continue the important work of growing our economy, strengthening our Alaska-based military, and protecting our people and the natural beauty of our state.”
She warned Alaskans that “lower 48 outsiders” would try to influence the vote “for their partisan agendas.”
Murkowski was originally appointed as senator by her father, then-Gov. Frank Murkowski, to finish his term.
She was nearly ousted in 2010 when Joe Miller, a former judge, beat her in the Republican primary, but Murkowski chose to launch a write-in campaign and ended up winning the general election.
Murkowski won a third term in 2016, beating Miller by approximately 47,000 votes.
Murkowski faces several GOP challengers this time around, including truck driver Sam Little, retired Army officer Karl Speights, and Kelly Tshibaka, former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration.
Tshibaka has regularly called out Murkowski, including describing her as “complicit” in the Biden administration’s choice not to appeal a federal court ruling that blocked an oil and gas exploration plan known as the Willow Project.
Murkowski voted to confirm the judge who issued the ruling, Obama nominee Sharon Gleason, and Biden’s nominee for interior secretary, Deb Haaland.
“Once again, Lisa Murkowski’s stances and votes against Alaska’s interests have come back to haunt all of us. By so publicly opposing President Trump, Murkowski enabled the Biden administration. By voting to confirm Judge Gleason, she set the stage for the ruling that blocked the Willow project. And by voting for Deb Haaland, she installed the Interior Secretary who let that bad decision stand,” Tshibaka said.
Murkowski has received support from some leading Republicans, including Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the chairman of the Senate Republican campaign arm.
“We support all of our incumbents,” Scott said this week when asked if Murkowski would receive backing from the committee.
