Will This RINO Switch Parties?

Lisa Murkowski, one of Alaska’s Senators, is weighing whether she will switch from the Republican Party to become an independent. Her opposition to Trump seems to be the deciding factor, but Murkowski has been out of step with her constituents and the rest of the party for several years now.

Murkowski was reelected in 2022, defeating conservative Kelly Tshibaka in a runoff election. Due to the structure of elections, centrist incumbents are heavily favored in Alaska, despite the state being overwhelmingly conservative. As such, she is not under electoral pressure the way House RINOs have been. Fox News reports:

Murkowski, who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial in 2021, told CNN’s Manu Raju she was navigating “interesting political times,” and would not say she would remain a member of the GOP.

“I wish that as Republicans, we had … a nominee that I could get behind,” Murkowski said. “I certainly can’t get behind Donald Trump.”

Murkowski’s voting record has been heavily weighed towards Democrats, backing Democrat Supreme Court nominees while rejecting Republican ones. USA Today continues:

A veteran conservative lawmaker, Murkowski separated herself from the GOP in voting against Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination in 2018, and later for Ketanji Brown Jackson’s 2022 nomination. She went against many Republicans in Congress by backing Trump’s longest-running 2024 Republican presidential opponent, Nikki Haley, before the former South Carolina governor dropped out of the race.

Murkowski in her interview with CNN avoided saying whether she would remain with the party that has come to center more and more around Trump.

Murkowski’s support for Democrats might have finally crossed the line. If Republicans win a majority in the Senate, her expulsion from the Party could give more conservative members more opportunities to serve on committees.

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