Alaska Senate Race Predicted To Go To Republican

(CTN News) – As a result of Alaska’s ranked choice voting system, NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ cannot project a specific candidate for the U.S. Senate seat.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has held the seat for nearly 20 years, was running for reelection against fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka and Democrat Patricia Chesbro.

The candidates advanced from a top-four primary held in August (one of the challengers has since withdrawn). As of 2020, this is the first time Alaska has used such a system in a Senate election.

Voters in Alaska rank candidates from one to four. If no candidate receives at least 50% of the vote, the lowest-performing candidate is eliminated from consideration.

Anyone who voted for the removed candidate will be counted as a second-place voter by the state. It continues until a majority is reached.

In her second impeachment trial, Murkowski voted to convict Donald Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol, earning the ire of the president. Additionally, Murkowski was censured by the state’s Republican Party after voting to convict Trump, although she has received the support of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) during her reelection campaign.

The Republican Party in Alaska has endorsed Murkowski’s opponent, attorney Tshibaka, as well. McConnell was censured for attack ads against Tshibaka by the state Republican party just weeks before the election.

Ranking-choice voting has created a tight race between the two Republican candidates, although the incumbent Senator has retained support from Alaska Native voters after demonstrating their importance during her 2010 write-in campaign.

During the campaign, the two Republican rivals agreed that Arctic Alaska must be protected from Russian aggression as the Russian government waged war in Ukraine.

While speaking at the Alaska Federation of Natives candidate forum, Murkowski stated that Putin had one hand on Ukraine and another on the Arctic. Tshibaka added that “Rural Alaska is on the front lines of national security.”

As of publication, the GOP holds 49 Senate seats, with results to be announced in Nevada, Arizona, and Georgia. To gain control of the chamber, the Republicans must win at least two of them.

Is Alaska part of USA or Canada?

Alaska is one of two US states not bordered by another state; Hawaii is the other. Borders Canada to the east (the Canadian provinces of Yukon Territory and British Columbia), and it shares a maritime border with Russia to the west. The state’s nickname is “The Last Frontier.”

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