A super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate Leadership Fund, announced it is endorsing Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) for reelection.
In a statement released on Friday, the PAC said Murkowski “embodies the long Alaska tradition of effective Republican leadership that gets results for the state and its citizens.”
It pointed to Murkowski’s efforts to fight for Alaska’s resource development economy, fisheries and parks and wildlife.
“Senator Murkowski has also been a champion for conservative values in Washington. She voted to confirm President Trump’s nominations of Justice Gorsuch and Justice Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, helping to cement a constitutional conservative majority on the nation’s highest court for years to come,” the PAC wrote.
It continued, “She voted in support of the landmark Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and policies to free businesses from excessive, burdensome regulations.”
The McConnell-aligned Super PAC Senate Leadership Fund is endorsing Lisa Murkowski in her 2022 re-election.
— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) April 9, 2021
Murkowski faces a challenge from a Republican with lots of ties to Trump-world, so McConnell is putting a stake in the ground here. pic.twitter.com/lQH67hvbh5
Alaska commissioner Kelly Tshibaka launched her Senate campaign against Murkowski in March, as IJR previously reported.
“We know what Washington, D.C., thinks about Alaska: We’re here for their benefit, and we won’t put up much of a fight. After nearly 20 years in D.C., Lisa Murkowski thinks the same way,” Tshibaka said in a video announcement.
She continued, “But you know what? Nothing scares the D.C. political insiders more than the thought of a strong, independent Alaskan leader in their ranks. One they can’t bully. One they can’t control. One they can’t silence.”
Tshibaka explained it is “time we had a U.S. senator who represents Alaska to Washington, D.C., rather than one who represents D.C. insiders to Alaska.”
Earlier last month, former President Donald Trump vowed to campaign against Murkowski after she voted to convict him on the charge of inciting an insurrection during his second impeachment trial, as IJR previously reported.
“I will not be endorsing, under any circumstances, the failed candidate from the great State of Alaska, Lisa Murkowski. She represents her state badly and her country even worse,” Trump said in a statement.
He went on, “I do not know where other people will be next year, but I know where I will be – in Alaska campaigning against a disloyal and very bad Senator. Her vote to advance radical left Democrat Deb Haaland for Secretary of the Interior is yet another example of Murkowski not standing up for Alaska.”