Murkowski Says It’s a ‘Possibility’ She Could Become an Independent, Join Senate Democrats in the Future

As Senator Murkowski embarks on a book tour to promote a new memoir, the Alaskan says she is leaving all options on the table for her political future, including the “possibility” of leaving the Republican Party to become an independent and caucus with Senate Democrats. She says her only priority as a lawmaker is to be an advocate for Alaska. Ms. Murkowski has served in the Senate for more than two decades since her father, Frank Murkowski, appointed her to his old seat after he became governor. She shocked political observers in 2010 by winning a write-in re-election campaign after losing the Republican primary. Ms. Murkowski also defeated a Republican opponent backed by President Trump in 2022.Ms. Murkowski has sparred with Mr. Trump repeatedly, having refused to vote for him in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 elections. She was the only GOP senator to oppose Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, and voted to convict the president during his second impeachment trial. When she was up for re-election in 2022, Mr. Trump endorsed Ms. Murkowski’s primary opponent. “She represents her state badly and her country even worse. I do not know where other people will be next year, but I know where I will be — in Alaska campaigning against a disloyal and very bad Senator,” Mr. Trump told Politico in March 2021. Ms. Murkowski’s memoir, “Far from Home,” is due to be released on Tuesday. In an interview with podcaster Galen Druke on Monday, Ms. Murkowski talked about her independence as a legislator, and about how she has been solely focused on the wellbeing of Alaskans rather than partisan politics. She says that’s how she’ll continue to legislate going forward. Mr. Druke asked Ms. Murkowski whether, if Democrats win three Senate seats next year, resulting in a 50–50 chamber, she would consider leaving the GOP to become an independent and caucus with the Democrats, so long as they let her advance legislation to benefit Alaska. “It’s an interesting hypothetical,” Ms. Murkowski responded. “I have to figure out I can be most effective for the people that I serve — that’s why I’m gonna continue to do a really hard job, because I want to try to help people.”She cautioned, however, that she has serious policy disagreements with the other side of the aisle. “My problem with your hypothetical is that as challenged as I think we may be on the Republican side, I don’t see the Democrats being much better. They’ve got, not only their share of problems, but quite honestly, they’ve got some policies that I just inherently disagree with,” she said. When pressed about the possibility of leaving her party, she again did not close the door, instead saying that it was a “possibility.” She mentioned specifically the current governing coalition of the Alaska legislature, where both the state house and state senate are led by a mix of Republicans, Democrats, and independents. “There may be that possibility,” she said of joining Democrats to advance Alaskans’ priorities. “In Alaska right now, our legislature is governed by a coalition. … And this is one of the things that I think is good and healthy for us, and I think actually is one of the reasons people are not surprised that I don’t neatly toe the line with party initiatives.”When asked a third time if there’s any possibility that she could change the makeup of the Senate by switching parties or leaving the Republican conference, she again dodged the question. “If we’re talking about some kind of a coalition, that’s something that, again, is not foreign to Alaskans,” Ms. Murkowski said. “Is it foreign to our operations in the Senate? Yeah.”“I’m evading your [question], of course, because it is so supremely hypothetical, but you can tell that the construct that we’re working with right now — I don’t think is the best construct,” she responded. “Is it something that is worthy of exploration? See, you’re looking to make news today,” she said with a smile after being asked by Mr. Druke for a fourth time. “There is some openness to exploring something different than the status quo. How’s that?” she said with a laugh.

Murkowski Says It’s a ‘Possibility’ She Could Become an Independent, Join Senate Democrats in the Future

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