Democrat Senators Support Lisa Murkowski’s Reelection Against Trump-Endorsed Kelly Tshibaka

Senate Democrats are supporting establishment Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) reelection on August 16 against Trump-endorsed candidate Kelly Tshibaka.

While polling shows a close race between Murkowski and Tshibaka, establishment Democrats are falling in line to support of the incumbent senator. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) has offered to campaign for Murkowski, while Sen. Angus King (I-ME) has donated $5,000 to her campaign fund. The senator has also earned verbal support from Democrat Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).

“She has the highest integrity quotient that I’ve seen,” King told Politico upon donating across the aisle. “If you’re of a persuasion that nothing should get done, she’s not your person.”

Embattled Shaheen said she would campaign for Murkowski so the establishment Republican returns to Congress. “I hope she’s going to come back,” Shaheen said. “I told her I’d be happy to campaign for her, if she thought that helped.”

Far-left Cantwell from Washington State also praised Murkowski for being a great senator for Alaska. “Sen. Murkowski stands up for Alaska,” Cantwell told Politico “And that’s what Alaska needs.”

Democrat support for Murkowski’s reelection bid comes as the senator admitted in April she may not win the primary election against Tshibaka. “I may not be re-elected,” she told the New York Times.

“It may be that Alaskans say, ‘Nope, we want to go with an absolute, down-the-line, always, always, 100-percent, never-question, rubber-stamp Republican,’” she said about Tshibaka who is leading in the polls.

The pressure on Murkowski is mounting after she backed many Democrat priorities in the Senate, including implementing gun control, confirming Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, attempting to impeach former President Donald Trump, and helping President Biden pass massive spending bills.

Tshibaka, who has won the endorsement of both the Alaskan Republican Party and former president Trump, slammed Murkowski for being a two-faced establishment Republican.

“In Alaska, she says she is looking out for us, but in D.C. she turns her back on us, and she votes and parties with liberals,” Tshibaka said. “[N]ot one of these liberals has Alaska’s best interests at heart, yet these are Lisa Murkowski’s cronies.”

Breitbart News reported in July that Murkowski voted for gun control measures after she ran ads on Facebook touting positions on protecting the Second Amendment.

“LISA NEEDS YOUR HELP,” one ad stated. “Democrats want to take away your right to bear arms. Can you join her and stand up to the radical left to protect our Second Amendment rights?”

The establishment Republican’s flipflop was approved by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who is supporting Murkowski as the Senate minority leader.

“It’s important for Lisa to be reelected. She’s one of the few sort of moderates in the middle of the Senate,” McConnell said of his colleague in April. “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure she’s successful.”

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.