Kelly Tshibaka Crushes Incumbent Lisa Murkowski in Alaska Donations

Alaska Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka addresses reporters after
AP Photo/Mark Thiessen

Kelly Tshibaka, the conservative Republican candidate vying for Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) seat in Alaska, crushed the long-time incumbent in both Alaska donors and small grassroots donations in Quarter 2 of 2021.

According to a press release of the announcement, Tshibaka outraised Murkowski among Alaskans “by more than four times, and among small grassroots donors by eight-and-a-half times.”

She has raised $759,098.21 in total, including $544,253.79 in the second quarter alone. Notably, this marks the second consecutive quarter Tshibaka has outraised Murkowski in donations from Alaskans, as “nearly” half of her donations came from residents. Only six percent of Murkowski’s contributions came from Alaskans.

Per the press release:

In dollar amounts from Alaska donors, Tshibaka raised more than four times as much as Murkowski – a margin of about $266,000 to $63,000. Among small grassroots donors, Tshibaka bested Murkowski by a spread of about $244,000 to only $29,000, or almost eight-and-a-half times as much.

Tshibaka raised 45 percent of her funds from small donors (under $200), a sign of impressive grassroots support, while Murkowski raised only 3 percent through small donations. As is typical, Murkowski relied heavily on Washington, D.C.-connected Political Action Committees, which accounted for nearly a quarter (24 percent) of her fundraising.

According to the announcement, “Tshibaka has already raised more money than Murkowski’s three top opponents each raised for their entire campaigns in 2016.”

“I am proud to have the support of thousands of Alaskans and grassroots supporters who are backing the call to take back Alaska’s Senate seat from the Washington, D.C. insiders,” Tshibaka said.

“Lisa Murkowski’s numbers again prove what we all know to be true: she is part of the Washington, D.C. elite and she is beholden to the power brokers, not the people of our great state,” she added.

Tshibaka announced her bid more than three months ago, blasting Murkowski, who has held the Senate seat since 2002, for leaving Alaskans behind in favor of courting the D.C. elite.

“She’s been voting with them, hurting our way of life, and she’s not standing up to the radical Biden administration while they kill our oil and gas jobs,” Tshibaka said of Murkowski during an appearance in April on Breitbart News Saturday, explaining the Alaskan people “feel forgotten.”

“She’s voted to allow illegal immigrants to come into our country. Even if they commit crimes, they can stay here. She was the deciding vote to keep Obamacare and that means higher healthcare costs and fewer healthcare choices for us in Alaska,” she added.

This month, the Alaska Republican Party endorsed Tshibaka in The Last Frontier State’s Republican Primary.

“I am grateful and thrilled to have the strong support of the Alaska Republican Party, which voted overwhelmingly to endorse my candidacy for the U.S. Senate,” Tshibaka said in a statement following the news.

“We all share a unified goal: to promote the principles upon which our country and state were founded. I have pledged that I will be true to our shared, conservative Alaska ideals and be a senator upon whom they can depend to make every decision based on what is best for our great state,” she continued, expressing the need for a senator “who will stand with Alaskans and not cozy up to the Washington, D.C. insiders, a senator who has earned the trust of the people and strives to keep it every day.”

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