Lisa Murkowski Clinches Alaska Election, Beating Trump-Backed Rival – Rolling Stone

Lisa Murkowski won a fourth full term in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. Murkowski, a centrist Republican who broke party ranks last year, fended off a challenge from Trump-endorsed Republican, Kelly Tshibaka. The race also included Democrat Pat Chesbro and Republican Buzz Kelley, who suspended his campaign after the August primary and backed Tshibaka.

Last year, Murkowski overcame conservative backlash after calling on President Trump to resign and saying she was questioning her future with the Republican Party days after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. She was the only Senate Republican up for reelection this year who voted to convict Trump at his impeachment trial last year, a move that compelled the former president to announce plans to campaign against her.

The results were announced Wednesday, when elections officials counted the ranked choice results after neither candidate won more than 50 percent of first-choice votes. Murkowski secured 53.7 percent of the vote with 135,972 votes of the votes, the Alaska Division of Elections confirmed. Tshibaka received 46.3 percent, while Chesbro was eliminated in an earlier round with a total of 29,078 votes, the New York Times reports.

“I am honored that Alaskans — of all regions, backgrounds and party affiliations — have once again granted me their confidence to continue working with them and on their behalf in the U.S. Senate,” Senator Murkowski said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing the important work ahead of us.”

While Democrats have maintained their control of the Senate, a Senate runoff election in Georgia on Dec. 6 will determine if the upper chamber remains evenly divided, or if Democrats will clinch a 51st seat.