Current-Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski will be facing off against Trump-backed candidate Kelly Tshibaka and two other candidates in the state’s Senate general election in November after Tuesday’s ranked-choice election.
According to Anchorage Daily News, Murkowski had 43.7% of the votes counted compared to Tshibaka’s 40.4%, with 323 of 402 precincts reporting on Tuesday night.
According to NBC, In ranked-choice elections, “voters identify a first choice on their ballots, then rank the other candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes on the first count, the election moves to an instant runoff. The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and ballots cast for that candidate are recast for the voter’s second choice. The process repeats until a candidate reaches a majority.”
However, according to NBC News’ Mark Murray, it might take until December to determine a winner due to the state’s voting process.
Lead Anchor and Executive Producer for Next News Network, Gary Franchi, notes that he and his wife Angie met Kelly at Mar-A-Lago’s candidate forum in February. “As soon as we met her, we knew she was the candidate who could defeat Lisa Merkowski. As a result, we sponsored a fundraising event for her at Trump Tower Chicago in June,” Franchi said.
As far as Murkowski goes, she was one of ten RINOS to vote to impeach President Trump in his second impeachment trial. She was also one of three Republicans who voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in April. President Trump has called Murkowski the “disaster from Alaska.”
