Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski isn’t ruling out running for governor.
When asked by a reporter Monday afternoon if she had considered adding her name to a long list of Republican candidates for the seat next year, she gave a short reply.
“Sure,” she said. “Lots of Republicans have.”
Associated Press reporter Becky Bohrer later asked Murkowski if she was being sincere.
“Was that a flippant response or a serious response?” Bohrer asked. “Is that something that you’re seriously considering at this time?”
“Well it was a little bit flippant, I have to admit,” Murkowski said laughing, “because everybody asks me about it. So you know when you’re asked, you’re like, ‘I don’t know. I was thinking about it.'”
Murkowski spoke during a wide-ranging, nearly 90-minute sit-down with reporters in her Anchorage office. Other topics included her displeasure with reductions in staffing for the National Weather Service, the delay in getting judicial nominees confirmed for Alaska’s U.S. District Court vacancies and the zeroing out of funding for the Denali Commission. She also defended her vote on President Trump’s reconciliation bill, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, and the carveouts she secured for rural health care.
“I did everything within my power as one lawmaker from Alaska to try to make sure that the most vulnerable in our state would not be negatively impacted,” Murkowski said. “And I had a hard choice to make, and I think I made the right choice for Alaskans.”
Alaska Survey Research released a poll Monday that showed Murkowski’s favorability with progressives and moderates had plummeted after she voted for the president’s bill. Both of those blocs of voters helped her get re-elected in 2022. Murkowski said the bill would have passed without her support.
“What I’m trying to do is not win elections,” Murkowski said. “I am just trying to do the best that I can for Alaskans.”
Murkowski has served as one of Alaska’s two U.S. senators since 2002, when her father Frank Murkowski appointed her to his seat following his successful bid for governor. She did not commit to a re-election bid for her Senate seat either on Monday, saying the election is years away. She’s not up for re-election until 2028.
