Former United States Donald Trump suffered another significant blow in the political world after two candidates the Republican businessman supported lost to Democratic Sen. Mary Peltola and Republican Lisa Murkowski in Alaska.
Murkowski, who is a moderate Republican, on two occasions, withstood challenges from more conservative members of the GOP. Her recent victory came more than a decade after mounting a historical write-in campaign to beat a tea party favorite.
Alaska General Elections
The Republican defeated fellow GOP member Kelly Tshibaka on Wednesday despite the latter receiving support from the former president. Murkowski won the ranked-choice election with more than 54% of the vote, receiving assistance from independents and Democrats.
The Alaska politician did not make Trump the focus of her campaign, instead choosing to emphasize her seniority, record of delivering projects and funding for her state, and willingness to work across party lines as she sought to build a coalition of support, as per the Associated Press.
In a short statement after winning the race, Murkowski thanked her supporters and her pride to be granted the confidence to continue working with Alaska. Her win comes as Trump figured prominently in the race after Murkowski called on him to resign and later voted in support of the former president's impeachment following the events on Jan. 6, 2021, at Capitol Hill.
Before the 2020 election and prior to Tshibaka joining the Senate race, the former president announced his plans to campaign against Murkowski following her criticism of him. Trump said that he would support anyone.
According to USA Today, the other blow to Trump's spread of influence was when Peltola won her re-election bid for the state's sole congressional seat. The lawmaker won against former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
Trump's Waning Influence
Previously, Peltola also won against Palin in August during a special election to fill the remainder of the late Republican Rep. Don Young's Term. This year's races were the first general elections testing Alaska's new ranked-choice voting system, which voters previously approved in a ballot initiative in 2020.
The counting of the votes thus took longer in Alaska compared to other states in the country. The new voting system mandates that if no candidates earn more than 50% of the vote, they would be reallocated from the candidate in last place.
Peltola won by a greater margin during the general election this year compared to the special election where she beat Palin in August. Now, the Democrat won 54.9% to 45.1% as she previously led 51.5% to 48.5%. On the other hand, Murkowski's race was more narrow, only defeating Tshibaka 53.7% to 46.3%.
Projections of the election also showed Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy won re-election over Democrat Les Gara and Independent Bill Walker. The governor won more than 50% of the votes, which means that there was no need for a ranked-choice tabulation.
The situation comes as the House race underscored the unusual alliances that formed in Alaska's political environment. While Peltola is a Democrat, she also has a close relationship with Palin, whose tenure as governor overlapped with Peltola's time as a state lawmaker in Juneau, CNN reported.
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