Sarah Palin might be back.
The former Alaska governor and one-time Republican vice presidential nominee is being floated as a possible challenger to incumbent GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Murkowski is one of a handful of GOP moderates, and she frequently has sided with Democrats in criticizing former President Donald Trump.
The three-term senator was one of seven Republicans to vote with Democrats to convict Trump in the recently concluded impeachment trial related to the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Murkowski, however, did not vote for conviction in Trump’s 2020 impeachment proceeding.
Alaska Republican Party officials have put Palin at the top of their list to challenge Murkowski, who is the only one of the seven GOP dissidents who is up for re-election in 2022, The Washington Times reported Friday.
The Times noted, “Republican Party leaders in her home state say their frustration with Ms. Murkowski goes beyond the impeachment vote, however.
They are also irked by her pro-choice views and anti-Trump rhetoric. Conservatives point to her vote against confirming Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and her support of the Affordable Care Act as further reasons to replace her.”
Alaska Republicans are also weighing a censure resolution, according to the Times.
If that is endorsed, she will become the third of the seven GOP defectors to face sanctioning from party leaders at home. GOP officials in Louisiana and North Carolina have already approved censure resolutions against Sens. Bill Cassidy and Richard Burr, respectively.
The Times noted that Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania could soon be the fourth.
While Alaska Republicans seem to have not made up their minds on whom to support – current Gov. Michael James Dunleavy is also under consideration – the Times indicated it won’t be Murkowski.
The party’s executive committee meets on March 12 to debate that.
Although Murkowski has been in the Senate since 2002, when she was appointed to succeed her father, she is not a particularly strong presence in elections.
The Times pointed out that in three races since her appointment Murkowski has never won a clear majority.
She received 48.6% of the vote in 2004, 39.5% in 2010 (when she won as a write-in candidate in a three-candidate race), and 44.4% in 2016.
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Plain would be another disaster in more ways than one. Murkowski is. Stalwart, honest, and loyal for Alaska and its people.