Alaska Sen. Murkowski announces 2022 re-election bid, setting up fight with Trump

WASHINGTON — Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced Friday that she’s running for re-election next year, setting up a fight with former President Donald Trump, who has endorsed another Republican in the GOP primary.

“I'm running for re-election to continue the important work of growing our economy, strengthening our Alaska base military and protecting our people and the natural beauty of our state,” Murkowski said in a campaign video.

“In this election, lower 48 outsiders are going to try to grab Alaska’s Senate seat for their partisan agendas,” she continues. “They don't understand our state and frankly, they couldn't care less about your future. My commitment to Alaska is the same one I made during my first campaign. I will work with anyone from either party to advance Alaska’s priorities.”

In June, Trump endorsed another Republican for the Senate seat, Kelly Tshibaka, a few months after Murkowski voted to convict him because of his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Murkowski has often bucked her party, voting with Democrats on major issues such as on their effort to block the GOP’s attempts to repeal Obamacare.

The 64-year-old Alaska senator survived an attempt in 2010 to vote her out of office when the tea party movement swept the nation, succeeding in a write-in campaign after losing the Republican primary.

With Trump’s endorsement of a primary challenger, Murkowski could face a competitive race. The former president won Alaska by 10 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election.

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, chairman of the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this week that the committee supports Murkowski in her re-election bid.

"We support all of our incumbents,” Scott said. “And fortunately for us, we've got great candidates running in our primaries."