Sen. Lisa Murkowski (D-AK) is projected to win reelection, pulling ahead of Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka.
The Associated Press called the race late Monday after two weeks of counting in the state's ranked-choice voting system.
Murkowski defeats Trump-backed challenger in Alaska Senate race. Trump is a loser again! https://t.co/RJOwQOj1uw
— Jill Wine-Banks (@JillWineBanks) November 24, 2022
"Murkowski won with the state’s new ranked choice voting system after neither she nor Tshibaka secured more than half of first-choice votes, according to the AP. In the second round, the incumbent took the win with 53.7 percent of the vote, to Tshibaka’s 46.3 percent," The Hill reported.
"Murkowski, who has served in the upper chamber since 2002, drew the ire of former President Trump after voting to convict him in his second impeachment trial," it added.
McConnell bought himself a senatorhttps://t.co/hukHlfLfAs
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) November 24, 2022
“Thank you, Alaska,” Murkowski said in a tweet on Wednesday.
“I am honored that Alaskans – of all regions, backgrounds and party affiliations – have once again granted me their confidence to continue working with them and on their behalf in the U.S. Senate. I look forward to continuing the important work ahead of us," she added.
The ranked-choice voting system allows voters to select their first and second choices for each office. If no single candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, second-place votes are counted among the two top candidates to determine the winner.
The system also impacted the state's House race, with Democrat Mary Peltola winning over Sarah Palin. Palin and two other Republicans won more than 50% of the vote, but Peltola received more second-place votes than Palin to win.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy was able to escape without concern, easily winning more than 50% of the vote in his reelection bid.
The results show that former President Donald Trump's push to remove the senator who voted to impeach him was not enough to stop Murkowski from returning to Washington.
Source: The Hill
