With the entrance of State Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson into the Alaska U.S. Senate race, there are now effectively two prominent Democrats for voters to consider in the August primary election. Gray-Jackson’s record shows that she is reliably progressive, while incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski is a dependable vote for President Joe Biden and Senator Chuck Schumer’s Democrats in the Senate.
On issue after issue, Gray-Jackson and Murkowski are in alignment, and together they are out of step with most Alaskans.
There should be no question that Gray-Jackson would be a rubber stamp for every radical nominee that Biden sends to the Senate. The extremists who already have been confirmed have enacted numerous policies that directly target Alaska, our economy, and our workers.
Murkowski, meanwhile, has voted to confirm more than 90 percent of Biden’s nominees, including casting the tie-breaking vote to advance the nomination of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who is spearheading the Biden plan to gut Alaska’s energy industries. Haaland’s policies line up perfectly with Gray-Jackson, who last year co-sponsored legislation that would increase taxes on Alaska employers and oil producers.
For her part, Murkowski also voted for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who blocked all access to the Tongass National Forest for timber production and tourism.
The two are also disastrous on public safety, siding with radicals who call for defunding police and weakening law enforcement officers in our communities. Gray-Jackson has sponsored a number of bills in the state legislature that can fairly be described as anti-police, and which would make it more difficult for officers to do their jobs to protect our communities.
Murkowski was the only “Republican” to vote for the confirmation of Vanita Gupta as a Biden nominee at the Department of Justice, even though Gupta previously testified in the Senate in support of the “Defund the Police” movement. Gupta now oversees the allocation of federal funds (or lack thereof) to local police departments.
Perhaps the most impactful votes a senator will ever cast are those on nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court. Again, Gray-Jackson would be expected to toe the line for Biden and Schumer, while Murkowski has already shown that she opposes originalist, constitutionalist judges.
Murkowski opposed the nominations of Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, after being bullied by Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein into doing so. Yet, Murkowski voted to confirm federal Judge Sharon Gleason, a judicial activist and radical environmentalist who went on to kill both the life-saving King Cove Road and the multi-billion-dollar Willow oil and gas project.
On immigration, Gray-Jackson could be counted on to back liberals’ plans to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants and excuse Biden’s failure to enforce our southern border. Murkowski actually voted for legislation that allows millions of illegal immigrants to remain in this country, even if they commit multiple crimes against U.S. citizens.
And on abortion, there is no daylight whatsoever between Gray-Jackson and Murkowski. The former has been endorsed in the past by abortion provider Planned Parenthood, which promotes abortion up to the moment of birth, while Murkowski is famously and undeniably pro-abortion – even boasting on social media, “I have long supported Planned Parenthood.”
It’s clear that Murkowski believes that she and Gray-Jackson are playing on the same field, as she has begun to accumulate endorsements from national and Alaska Democrats.
This makes sense because incredibly, since Biden has been President, Murkowski has voted with self-described socialist Senator Bernie Sanders more than half of the time and with Biden’s position nearly three-quarters of the time.
The Alaska Republican Party has censured Murkowski and gone as far as instructing her not to refer to herself as a Republican in Alaska anymore. She no longer has a home in the party in Alaska and clearly is looking to Democrats to rescue her.
Indeed, Murkowski’s own campaign manager issued a statement warmly embracing Gray-Jackson’s entry in the race, when he claimed “there are now two candidates, Sen. Murkowski and Elvi Gray-Jackson, in this race with decades of public service to Alaska.”
This shows that Murkowski believes that she and Gray-Jackson are competing for the same Democratic voters.
Alaskans want a leader who represents our values and will fight for them in Washington, D.C. We want a Senator who understands this is about serving the public, not being a career politician. I have two decades of public service experience in making government work for the people. And I will always fight for Alaska and our shared principles when I am the next U.S. senator.
Kelly Tshibaka is a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska.
If this person who left alaska to live her adult life outside, only to return on the condition alaskan taxpayers give both her and her husband high paying jobs along with paying them $80,000. to move up here,ever tells us her plans as a senator instead of running down murkowski,I will shake her hand and give her a daniel webster cigar.
Could not have said it better! Nothing but a “Trumptard” – wannabe!
She only gripes and bitches, never any statement of positions on specific issues. She doesn’t seem to have a sense of how the Senate works. She’s like Palin – a grifter.
Kelly have you actually regestered your candidacy as yet, or still just in the taking donations talking about running?
And Kelly would make a rubberstamp for Trump. Seriously, does she have any actual positions besides “own the libs” and whatever Trump says?
Those eyes
they are crwzy
No worries here folks, Tshibaka Chewy still doesn’t know that it’s illegal to fish without a license. And now it appears she doesn’t know she has to register to run as a senate candidate. Perhaps one of her kids can sit her down and give her a civics lecture 🤭
It is kind of messed up: Every time Tshibaka produces one of these lie filled opinion pieces I starting thing well of nepo-Lisa.
shhhh! Don’t tell her!
Alaskans don’t want another bootlicking tRump sycophant in office, we already have Sullivan for that. Can’t wait to rank you last!
Don’t rank her at all please
Is that a canvas backdrop she is standing in front of? The lighting seems so uniform. If it is, that would certainly help to further establish her image to most Alaskans.
A grifter whose whole campaign seems to be “Murkowski bad.”
Murkowski is bad. A rino . But chuey is not a good candidate. We are on stuck with the devil we know unless some one with substance stands up.
There’s nothing wrong with a RINO. The country would be in a better place if more of them were in office.
People who lie to get in office. Hide their true political identity is your idea of a good person Rick?
Murkowski opposed the nominations of Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Brett Kavanaugh because thousands of her constituents asked her to oppose them. Alleged “bullying” by Senator Feinstein had nothing to do with it. By make this obviously false allegation, Kelly Tshibaka is demonstrating that she has no idea how the US Senate works.
And just for the record, Murkowski’s “opposition” to Amy Coney Barrett was only on the procedural issue. Murkowski issued the following statement on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to serve as the next Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court: “I voted no on the motion to proceed yesterday because I have stated on multiple occasions since 2016 I do not believe the Senate should take up a Supreme Court nomination this close to a presidential election. I have been clear in that position throughout this process. With that vote, my view did not prevail, so the question… Read more »
She disgusts me in many ways, starting with the fact she is a liar, bigly
Kelly, what happened to the freedom convoy??? They made it farther than you will, otherwise it was a total flop
Does Tshibaka have a personality? All I know of her are these mind-numbing op-eds that repeat the terms “radical” and “extreme” over and over again.
Dont worry Kelly, the Anchorage libs will find out again, like the last Mayoral election, Alaskans are tired of the BS.
I get the need to drive traffic to your site, Jeff, but for god’s sake how about some quality control on this junk.
It is time to quit calling Lisa a D. She is not in tune with the right on many issues but she is nowhere near the race baiting D syncophant EGJ is.
Kelly must have meant to send this BS to Suzanne D. to dump in the trough on her site and accidentally sent it to the Landmine. Surprised that Jeff published this offensive drivel…
Kelly has a less than 0% chance of making the first cut – giving her a voice when she is demonstrably a liar weakens the credibility of this blog significantly!
Lay off the soy.
Let’s all google Tshibakas “Tandem Motion” contract. Never forget.