Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) holds a small lead over Trump-backed GOP challenger Kelly Tshibaka as Alaska nears the final release of its election results.
The senator who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump is the leader in the state's ranked-choice voting system.
Sen. @LisaMurkowski takes the lead over conservative foe in Alaska Senate race https://t.co/Af8nLrbEht
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) November 19, 2022
"The third-full-term senator holds a slight lead over Tshibaka, 43.3% to 42.68%, with about 95% of the vote accounted for, displaying considerable gains after the tabulation of absentee and early ballots," the Washington Examiner reported.
"With no candidate appearing likely to clinch a majority outright, the race appears likely to be determined by the counting of second-choice votes slated for Wednesday," it added.
"Going into Wednesday’s tabulation, Ms. Murkowski narrowly leads Republican Kelly Tshibaka, who was endorsed by Mr. Trump, 43.3% to 42.7%... incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola is on track to win a full two-year term in Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat." https://t.co/i5z2POICcE
— Eric Small (@EricDSmall) November 23, 2022
"Following the tabulation, Ms. Murkowski had 53.7% to 46.3% for Ms. Tshibaka," the Wall Street Journal reported.
"Ms. Murkowski was the only one of the seven who faced re-election this year," it added. "Her break with Mr. Trump came months before the Capitol riot, when she told reporters in June 2020 that she was struggling with whether she could support him."
In addition to Murkowski, Alaska is expected to announce that Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola will be the winner of the state's only House seat.
Peltola narrowly defeated Sarah Palin in an August special election, giving the state its first Democrat in the House in a half-century.
The two controversial elections in the state and the lengthy time to decide the winner is making the ranked-choice voting system a source of much anger among many American voters.
With Alaska's vote, Washington will have another Republican senator who is not as strongly conservative as many in the party would desire.
Source: The Washington Examiner
