Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is fighting to fend off a pro-Trump challenger to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, flooding airwaves with ads defending the Alaska Republican’s record.
The Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC associated with Mr. McConnell, said Monday that it booked more than $7 million worth of ad time in Alaska to boost Ms. Murkowski.
“It’s important for Lisa to be reelected. She’s one of the few … moderates in the middle of the Senate,” Mr. McConnell told Axios this week.
The GOP leader added that Ms. Murkowski had been a “key player” to advance bipartisan legislation and that he would do everything in his power to ensure her success in November.
Ms. Murkowski, 64, is fending off a primary challenge from Kelly Tshibaka, who received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
Ms. Tshibaka formerly served as a commissioner in the Alaska Department of Administration and worked in the inspector general offices for the U.S. Postal Service, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department.
Ms. Tshibaka attacked Ms. Murkowski on her record of supporting President Biden’s nominees and accused her of trading Alaska for friends in nation’s capital.
“Lisa Murkowski has forgotten us because she cares more about being popular with her friends in Washington, D.C.,” Ms. Tshibaka said.
Ms. Murkowski has long been a key swing vote in the Senate, breaking with her GOP colleagues on a series of votes.
The three-term senator, who has held office since 2002, voted in favor of the bipartisan infrastructure bill last year and helped secure Supreme Court Justice-designate Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the high court.
During Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, Ms. Murkowski voted “present.”
Ms. Murkowski was also one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Mr. Trump in his impeachment trial related to the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
She was censured by the Alaska Republican Party over her vote to convict Mr. Trump, saying they did not want her to be on the 2022 ballot as a Republican.
Ms. Murkowski is heading into the prime of the election year with a hefty war chest, with more than $5 million of campaign cash for her race. Ms. Tshibaka has less than $1 million, as of March 31.
Alaska’s all-party primary on Aug. 16 will be ranked-choice, and the top four candidates will advance to the state’s general election on Nov. 8.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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