Alaska GOP Censures McConnell For ‘Divisive’ Attack Ads Against Trump-Backed Senate Candidate Tshibaka

Topline

Alaska’s Republican Party voted Monday night to censure Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for backing a series of attack ads against Trump-endorsed Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka, who is trying to unseat incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)—further widening the gap between McConnell and Trump-allied Republicans.

The Alaska Republican Party censured Sen. Mitch McConnell for backing ads targeting Trump-backed … [+] Kelly Tshibaka.

Getty Images

Key Facts

The state’s Republican party slammed McConnell in a Facebook post Monday night, arguing his financial support for Murkowski through the Senate Leadership Fund is in “direct contradiction” of the party, which endorsed Tshibaka in July.

In the statement, Alaskan party officials call on the Senate Leadership Fund to “immediately” stop running attack ads targeting Tshibaka, arguing the ads are “divisive and misleading,” “malicious “ and a “gross distortion of fact.”

Most of the ads suggest Tshibaka may have committed fraud and wasted taxpayer money as a member of the Alaska Department of Administration, according to the Anchorage Daily News, although FactCheck.org found some ads paid for by the Senate Leadership Fund leave the false impression Tshibaka supports an all-out ban on birth control—she has said she hopes to ban some birth control by mail, but later said her remarks were was taken out of context.

Meanwhile, in a rare move on Monday, Murkowski endorsed Rep. Mary Peltola, the Democratic candidate running against Trump-endorsed former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the state’s lone House seat—Peltola later endorsed Murkowski, saying she would rank her first out of four candidates in the state’s ranked-choice voting system.

Tangent

The Alaska GOP’s vote is the latest example of a rift between Republican leaders like McConnell and former President Donald Trump’s allies, even as Trump-backed candidates win primaries over more moderate Republicans. McConnell admitted over the summer Republicans might not take control of the Senate due to poor “candidate quality.” The minority leader harshly criticized Trump following the January 6 insurrection, and opposed the Republican National Committee’s decision to censure Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who both served on the House January 6 committee and voted to impeach Trump after the riot. Trump, on the other hand, has repeatedly slammed McConnell since leaving office, calling him an “old crow” Republican and accusing him of being weak for not leading a stronger opposition to Democratic legislation.

Key Background

The Alaska Republican Party’s criticism of McConnell comes a year and a half after it censured Murkowski, a 20-year incumbent, for voting to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial after the Capitol riot last year. The party argued her vote was “contrary to the [party’s] platform and best interest of the state of Alaska.” Out of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump on charges of inciting violence, Murkowski is the only one on the ballot next month. Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system allows Murkowski and Tshibaka to both appear on the general election ballot, even though both candidates are running as Republicans, alongside Republican candidate Buzz Kelley and Democrat Petricia Chesbro. Meanwhile, Peltola faces a challenge in former vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who launched her campaign for the House on an anti-establishment platform attacking the “radical left” for illegal immigration and rising inflation. Peltola defeated Palin in a special election in August to fill the remainder of longtime Republican Rep. Don Young’s seat, after his death earlier this year.

Contra

Other Trump-backed Republicans have been making gains in toss-up Senate elections. Ohio Republican J.D. Vance has a slight lead in the polls over Democratic nominee Tim Ryan, Republican Mehmet Oz has cut Democrat John Fetterman’s lead in Pennsylvania, and the Georgia race is extremely close between Herschel Walker (R) and incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D).

What To Watch For

Under Alaska’s ranked-choice system, voters will rank the four Senate candidates in order of preference, and if no candidate wins an outright majority, election officials will conduct runoffs to eliminate candidates. Recent Alaska Survey Research polls show Murkowski and Tshibaka are the clear frontrunners in next month’s Senate race, with 41% of likely voters supporting Murkowski and 39% supporting Tshibaka in the first round of voting. In a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, Murkowski leads Thisbaka 56% to 45% among likely voters.