Alaska Sen. Murkowski officially announces reelection campaign

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski announced today that she's running for reelection. Murkowski made her announcement in a video posted to YouTube where she said that "lower 48 outsiders are going to try and grab Alaska's Senate seat for their partisan agendas. They don't understand our state and frankly, they couldn't care less about your future."

Murkowski is being challenged by Kelly Tshibaka, a longtime member of the far-right Save Anchorage Facebook group. Tshibaka has cast doubt on the results of the 2020 presidential election and was the subject of scrutiny when she penned a Must Read Alaska op-ed last November. The op-ed echoed several of Trump’s unfounded voter fraud claims, including that thousands of dead people voted in the election and that a voting machine “glitch” had switched votes from Trump to Biden. Tshibaka wrote this op-ed with with a straight face, calling the unfounded allegations of election fraud “credible.”

The Insurrectionist-In-Chief has endorsed Tshibaka and is holding a February fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago estate in February for the election fraud conspiracy theorist. In newly released audio, former President Trump can be heard defending supporters who threatened to "hang" former Vice President Mike Pence. What far-right candidate for political office wouldn't want this guy's endorsement?

Murkowski was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict former president Donald Trump on charges of insurrection.

In her reelection announcement video, Murkowski said she has been an advocate for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and that she has always defended Alaska Native languages and traditions. The Alaska Senator also said she would work with anyone from either political party to advance Alaska's priorities.

Senator Murkowski was the only Republican to support a voting rights bill pushed by Democrats this month and she voted for the $1 trillion infrastructure bill in addition to being one of the few Republicans in the Senate who supports a woman's right to choose.