Alaska’s Senate Race

On Tuesday, Alaska and Wyoming had primary elections.

In Wyoming, Fox News posted the following totals:

It seems clear that the people of Wyoming did not feel that Liz Cheney was representing them adequately. Harriet Hageman was endorsed by President Trump and obviously did very well.

In Alaska the results are more complicated.

Fox News provides the numbers:

These are the results of the primary, but both Lisa Murkowski and Kelly Tshibaka will advance to the general election for Senate along with two other candidates yet to be determined.

President Trump has an impressive record in endorsing candidates. I wouldn’t count Kelly Tshibaka out in the general election.

Fox News reports:

Of the seven Republican senators who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in the Capitol riot, only Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is running in 2022. 

She faces a host of primary challengers, and Trump has long worked to deny her a spot on the ballot. However, changes to Alaska’s voting method could help Murkowski stay in the race. Alaska eliminated party primaries following a 2020 referendum, and implemented a ranked-choice system where the top four vote-getters in a non-partisan primary will advance to the general election. 

The new voting system also means it could be days or weeks before final results are known in some races.

It should be noted that Lisa Murkowski and her staff worked very hard to get that new voting system put in place–it is probably the only chance she had of staying in the Senate race. This is one election to watch closely in November.