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Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has accepted former President Donald Trump’s endorsement on the condition that he not back incumbent GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski who is running for reelection in 2022.
Dunleavy on Wednesday agreed not to endorse Murkowski, who is facing a Trump-backed primary challenger as well, over her vote to convict the former president during his second impeachment trial following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building.
“Please tell the president thank you for the endorsement,” Dunleavy reportedly said, according to CNN. “With regard to the other issue, please tell the president he has nothing to worry about.”
“This is why Mike Dunleavy of Alaska has been, and will be, a great Governor,” Trump responded in a Thursday evening statement.
Trump noted in a statement Tuesday: “Alaska needs Mike Dunleavy as Governor now more than ever. He has my Complete and Total Endorsement but, this endorsement is subject to his non-endorsement of Senator Lisa Murkowski who has been very bad for Alaska.”
“In other words, if Mike endorses her, which is his prerogative, my endorsement of him is null and void, and of no further force or effect!” Trump added.
CNN added:
Murkowski was one of one of seven Republican senators — and the only one running for reelection in 2022 — who broke party lines by joining Democrats in voting to convict Trump for inciting the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6.
“For months, the President has perpetuated false rhetoric that the election was stolen and rigged, even after dozens of courts ruled against these claims,” she said before the trial got underway. “When he was not able to persuade the courts or elected officials, he launched a pressure campaign against his own Vice President, urging him to take actions that he had no authority to do.”
“Such unlawful actions cannot go without consequence and the House has responded swiftly, and I believe, appropriately, with impeachment,” Murkowski said.
Trump has already come out in support of Kelly Tshibaka, who announced earlier this year she was going to primary Murkowski.
“Lisa Murkowski is bad for Alaska. Her vote to confirm Biden’s Interior Secretary was a vote to kill long sought for, and approved, ANWR, and Alaska jobs. Murkowski has got to go! Kelly Tshibaka is the candidate who can beat Murkowski—and she will. Kelly is a fighter who stands for Alaska values and America First. She is MAGA all the way, pro-energy, strong on the Border, tough on Crime and totally supports our Military and our great Vets. Kelly is a powerful supporter of the Second Amendment and JOBS! I look forward to campaigning in Alaska for Kelly Tshibaka. She has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” he said in an email to his supporters via his Save America PAC when he endorsed her in June.
That said, Murkowski is remaining defiant, as noted in a statement she issued in November: “In this election, lower 48 outsiders are going to try to grab Alaska’s Senate seat for their partisan agendas. They don’t understand our state and frankly, they couldn’t care less about your future. My commitment to Alaska is the same one I made during my first campaign.”
For her part, Tshibaka said in April that Murkowski hurt the state and its residents by helping Joe Biden win after she voted to impeach Trump.
She added that during his campaign, Biden made it clear he sought to close off the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And though she understood how important the oil fields in the refuge were to the state, Murkowski nevertheless helped Biden by turning her back on Trump.
“She picked a needless fight with Donald Trump. His policies were really good for Alaska. He opened up oil and gas jobs for us,” she told the Washington Examiner.
“He reduced taxes for us. He supported our military. We have a strong military presence up here, and he rebuilt the military, and her impeachment vote made a lot of people angry in Alaska,” Tshibaka added.
