Lisa Murkowski Broke With Trump Again Over Alaska Governor and Republicans Are Furious

Lisa Murkowski voted to convict Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial.

Now she just made her biggest break from the party yet.

Murkowski picked a Democrat for Alaska governor over the Republican Trump wants in office.

She Endorsed the Only Democrat in a Four Way Alaska Governor Race

Senator Lisa Murkowski endorsed Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, the lone Democrat running for Alaska governor, in a statement posted to his campaign website.

Three Republicans are also running in the race, which Alaska decides through ranked-choice voting.

President Trump has already endorsed Republican Bernadette Wilson to succeed term-limited Governor Mike Dunleavy.

Murkowski said Kreiss-Tomkins has "a view and a perspective that I think Alaska needs right now."

She said Alaskans are "seeking change" and praised his plan to recruit cabinet members from both parties.

Murkowski also used the moment to take a shot at the Trump administration directly.

She said the Justice Department "should never have filed" its lawsuit challenging Alaska's Senate election certification.

Polls cited by Alaska Public Media show Kreiss-Tomkins leading all three of his Republican opponents.

Murkowski Won Her Senate Seat Under the Same System Now Helping a Democrat

This is not Murkowski's first trip across the aisle.

She endorsed Democrat Mary Peltola for the U.S. House in 2024, when Peltola ran against Republican Nick Begich.

This cycle, when Dan Sullivan ran for re-election to the Senate, Murkowski backed the Republican over Peltola, so her support is not simply reflexive anti-Republican politics.

But Alaska's ranked-choice system is exactly what let Murkowski survive a Trump-backed challenge from Kelly Tshibaka in the 2022 general election.

A divided Republican vote helped keep Murkowski in the Senate four years ago.

Now a divided Republican vote in the governor's race could hand the state's top office to a Democrat, with Murkowski cheering it on.

Ranked-choice voting does not require Kreiss-Tomkins to win a majority outright. He only needs enough first-choice support to survive while Republicans get eliminated one by one and their second-choice votes scatter.

A three-way Republican split is exactly the scenario that formula was built to reward.

The same mechanism that saved her career is now doing work for a Democrat she personally picked.

What Murkowski's Endorsement Means for Trump's Pick Bernadette Wilson

Conservative outlets wasted no time branding Murkowski a RINO over the endorsement, and it is easy to see why.

The Gateway Pundit called her a "RINO" and "Never-Trump" senator, pointing to the same interview's jab at the Justice Department over the Senate certification lawsuit as further proof of where her loyalties sit.

Three Republicans splitting the vote in a ranked-choice race is precisely how a trailing Democrat climbs into first place.

Murkowski's defenders will note she backed Republican Dan Sullivan over Mary Peltola in his Senate race this same cycle, so this is not blanket hostility to every Republican on a ballot.

That defense cuts the other way. She picked Sullivan when her Senate standing was on the line, and she picked a Democrat when a governor's mansion was not.

Murkowski is not a backbencher. She is a sitting Republican senator handing a leading Democrat her name, her credibility, and a talking point to use against every one of his Republican rivals.

Bernadette Wilson has Trump's endorsement, but she now has to win a four-way race that just lost a chunk of its Republican credibility to Murkowski's statement.

Murkowski has broken from her party before and survived politically every time.

This time, the question is whether Alaska Republicans can survive her.

Sources:

• Alaska's News Source, "Sen. Murkowski Endorses Democrat JKT in Alaska's Governor's Race," Alaska's News Source, October 27, 2026.
• The Hill, "Lisa Murkowski Breaks With GOP to Endorse Candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins," The Hill, October 27, 2026.
• The Gateway Pundit, "RINO Lisa Murkowski Endorses Democrat Candidate for Alaska Governor," The Gateway Pundit, October 27, 2026.
• Alaska Beacon, "Murkowski and Murkowski Endorse Alaska's Democratic Governor Candidate," Alaska Beacon, October 27, 2026.