It’s true – many of us here in the Great Land of Alaska will never get over the shame we feel about the uncanny political survival of Lisa Murkowski (R). “Princess” Lisa was given a seat in the United States Senate like a feudal title by her father, Frank Murkowski, who resigned from that Senate seat after being elected governor. Since then, Sen. Murkowski has cobbled together a coalition of tough Republicans and Democrats from Anchorage and Juneau to keep her in office — and our open electoral system of primaries and ranked-choice voting has been imposed on the state by outside interests that have poured millions into advertising. not least to keep Lisa Murkowski in office.
It says a lot about Princess Lisa that the legacy media regularly seeks cover for her. At the latest a Piece in The Hill praised her as a “changemaker” and claimed that she had overcome a metric amount (that’s 1.14 imperial amounts) of outside money in her advocacy for ranked choice voting (RCV).
She is also the most prominent proponent of ranked-choice voting in the Senate, something she defended in Alaska this fall when gloomy money groups poured more than $12 million into a campaign to abolish it.
Well, she is a supporter of RCV because without RCV she would probably be unemployed today. But the problem with The Hill’s claim is that it’s 180 degrees off. Must read Alaska’s Suzanne Downing has the details.
Here’s the most outrageous part of the story:
“She is also the most prominent proponent of ranked-choice voting in the Senate, something she defended in Alaska this fall when dark money groups poured more than $12 million into a campaign to abolish it.” The hill reported incorrectly.
In fact, the group is trying to get get rid of The ranked-choice voting only raised around $100,000, almost all of which came from the country in compact amounts.
It was $15 million in outside gloomy money that flowed into Alaska preserve Ranked-choice voting is the voting system that, along with jungle primaries, was developed by Murkowski supporters to keep Murkowski in office. She no longer has to face a Republican primary, but can still claim to be a Republican if she gets into the Senate. The group used some of that money to produce an ad in which Murkowski praised ranked-choice voting.
We should note that repeal of RCV failed by fewer than a thousand votes this year, and repeal advocates have already begun the process of putting it back on the ballot in 2026.
See related: Alaska and Ranked Choice Voting: It’s not over yet
Murkowski’s comments at the “No Labels” event about the Trump nominees have everyone talking
Republicans in general should look askance at any politician who receives such word of mouth from the legacy media. But whatever else Princess Lisa Murkowski is, she’s also a survivor. The key to winning her Senate seat is repealing the RCV, but beyond that there needs to be stern unity among Alaska Republicans. We have shown that this is possible; Just this year, in the recent election, the Alaska Republican Party united behind a candidate, Nick Begich III, who took on Democrat Mary Peltola and sent her home to Bethel. RCV or not, we can replace Lisa Murkowski with a united party, a great candidate and a solid campaign.
Then, with a united Alaska Republican Party and a bit of luck, Alaska’s embarrassing senator will be removed from this feudal seat forever.
