Billionaires Spend $3 Million Against Trump-Endorsed Kelly Tshibaka, Lisa Murkowski’s Opponent

Billionaires from the L.I.S.A. super PAC have donated nearly $3 million against Trump-endorsed Alaskan Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka, the opponent of establishment and pro-impeachment incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

L.I.S.A, which reportedly stands for “Leadership in a Strong Alaska,” only backs one candidate, Murkowski. The main PAC contributors are hedge fund managers Ken Griffin, John Arnold, and Louis Bacon, who, respectively, contributed $1.5 million, $500,000, and $50,000. “James and Kathryn Murdoch, the politically moderate heirs to the Murdoch media empire, have each given $250,000,” Forbes reported:

Billionaires from big Alaska industries have also pitched in. Michael S. Smith, who donated $200,000, and Jeffrey Hildebrand, who contributed $75,000, both made their fortunes in oil. Micky Arison, who along with his wife donated $25,000 total, runs Carnival Cruise Line.

In total, Murkowski’s campaign had $5.3 million in the bank at the end of July. The campaign funds do not include PAC money. Tshibaka’s campaign has $800,000.

Murkowski, who has been in office for 21 years, only finished a few points ahead of Tshibaka in last week’s Alaskan Republican primary. Both Murkowski and her opponent qualified in the primary to advance to the general election on November 8.

Murkowski was appointed to the Senate by her father, Frank Murkowski, who served in the Senate from 1981 to 2002 and was the governor of Alaska from 2002 until 2006.

During the last two years in office, Murkowski has voted nine times with Democrats. Those votes include (1) Gun Control, (2) Corporate Bailout, (3) Confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, (4) $1.5 Trillion Omnibus Spending, (5) Federalize Local Elections, (6) $1.2 Trillion “Infrastructure” Bill, (7) Confirmation of Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, (8) Confirmation of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and (9) Impeachment of Former President Donald Trump.

After the primary, Tshibaka said:

Tshibaka has slammed Murkowski for being a two-faced Republican. “We already know that Murkowski says one thing in Alaska and then does the complete opposite in D.C. And we know that people on both sides of important issues – like abortion and the 2nd Amendment – can’t trust her because she’s always speaking out of both sides of her mouth.

“After 21 years in the Senate, in a seat she was appointed to by her father which she funds with dark money from outside our state, Lisa Murkowski cares more about her status with the Washington, D.C. insiders than she does about what the people here at home think,” Tshibaka added.