In Another Blow to Trump, Lisa Murkowski Looks Set for Victory in Alaska

Former President Donald Trump suffered his latest defeat in this year's election cycle after Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, took the lead in her reelection bid against his endorsed candidate Kelly Tshibaka.

Alaska's Division of Elections released an updated vote tally on Friday night that gave Murkowski an edge over a more conservative Republican Tshibaka. Tshibaka's campaign received Trump's support after Murkowski voted to convict him during his second impeachment trial following the January 6, 2021, riot at the United States Capitol.

Polls showed the moderate Murkowski in a tight race in the state, which has a Republican lean. Friday's update gave Murkowski a lead of 1,658 votes against Tshibaka, as well as her other challengers, Republican Buzz Kelley and Democrat Patricia Chesbro. A Murkowski victory would deliver the latest blow to Trump, whose endorsed candidates floundered during this year's midterms.

According to the most recent results, 43.32 percent of voters backed Murkowski, while 42.68 percent supported Tshibaka. Chesbro received the support of 10.35 percent of voters, while 2.88 percent voted for Kelley, according to the state's Division of Elections. Less than 1 percent of Alaskans voted for a write-in candidate.

Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in the order they prefer to fill the position. If no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, the candidate who receives the fewest votes is eliminated. Votes cast for that candidate are then reallocated based on their voters' second choice candidates. This continues until a candidate reaches 50 percent.

Murkowski is expected to reach 50 percent after ranked-choice voting kicks in, as Chesbro's voters will likely rank her above Tshibaka, who ran a more conservative campaign.

Murkowski celebrated her new lead on Twitter, pointing out that she now holds a lead before ranked choice even goes into effect. She tweeted a GIF, captioned with the text, "and just like that, Kelly's claim she only lost because of Ranked Choice was gone."

Trump-Endorsed Candidates Falter During Midterms

Murkowski's likely victory would be the latest defeat for Trump-endorsed candidates throughout the midterms.

Republicans saw underwhelming results, losing the Senate and taking only a very slim majority in the House of Representatives despite hopes for a "red wave" that would give them comfortable control of Congress.

Trump-endorsed candidates in Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania lost key Senate races, delivering the Democrats' majority in the chamber. Meanwhile, Georgia's Senate election will be decided during a runoff next month, as neither Senator Raphael Warnock or Trump-backed Herschel Walker won 50 percent of the vote.

In the midterm's aftermath, some Republicans blamed the underwhelming results on Trump and called for new GOP leadership. They criticized him for elevating weaker candidates, who backed his unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud during the last presidential election, against more traditional Republicans who may have won more support from independents or moderate Democrats.

Trump, despite new criticism and calls not to run for office again, announced his 2024 presidential campaign on Tuesday. The announcement was met with mixed response from Republicans. While many have already endorsed him, others have pushed for alternative conservative candidates to be the party's 2024 nominee.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office and Murkowski's campaign for comment.