Senator Lisa Murkowski and Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka are neck and neck in the Alaska U.S. Senate open primary.
As of 6:00 A.M. EST Wednesday morning, Murkowski holds a 43.7 – 40.4 lead over Tshibaka with 69% reporting.
From the New York Times:
Senator Lisa Murkowski, who voted to convict former President Donald J. Trump in his impeachment trial, is seeking a fourth term and has the endorsement of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. She is facing the Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka, a former commissioner in Alaska’s Department of Administration, and 17 other candidates in the open primary. The top four vote-getters will compete on a ranked-choice ballot in November.
Murkowski and Tshibaka will both advance to the November general election.
Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski (who was criticized by Donald Trump) and Kelly Tshibaka (backed by Trump) advance to the November general election race, AP reports https://t.co/OpIV11aftQ
— Bloomberg (@business) August 17, 2022
Anchorage Daily News reported:
In a primary race largely seen as a referendum on former President Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was narrowly leading Trump-backed challenger Kelly Tshibaka in early results after voting concluded Tuesday.
Murkowski had 42.7% of the votes counted so far compared to Tshibaka’s 41.4%, with 233 of 402 precincts reporting.
Both candidates, along with third place finisher Democrat Pat Chesbro with 6.2% of the vote so far, are expected to advance to the November general election under Alaska’s new voting laws that eliminated partisan primaries. The top four vote-getters in the open primary will advance to a ranked-choice general election.
The Division of Elections will continue to receive and count absentee ballots until Aug. 31, as long as they were postmarked by election day. Additional vote tallies are expected next week. The final results are expected to be certified Sept. 2.
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, endorsed by Donald Trump, sits in second-place in Alaska’s U.S. House At-Large District Special Election.
Palin’s current standing would advance her to the November general election.
From the New York Times:
The death in March of Representative Don Young, a Republican who held Alaska’s sole seat in Congress for 49 years, set off a special election to finish his term, which ends in January. Voters will pick from three of the top-four finishers from the special primary in June: Sarah Palin, the Trump-endorsed former governor; Nick Begich III, who co-chaired Young’s 2020 re-election campaign; and Mary Peltola, a Democrat and former state lawmaker. The fourth top vote-getter withdrew.
@SarahPalinUSA https://t.co/RNFcNyQTlk
— TruthBooth (@TruthBoothUSA) August 17, 2022
NBC News reported:
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has clinched one of four spots in November’s ranked-choice general election for the state’s at-large congressional seat, NBC News projects, keeping alive her hopes for a political comeback.
She will be joined on the fall ballot by Republican Nick Begich, the namesake grandson of a former Democratic representative who held the seat, Democrat Mary Sattler Peltola, a former state lawmaker, and Republican Tara Sweeney, a former assistant secretary for Native American affairs in the Interior Department.
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