by Ben Whedon
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Tuesday announced that she would not support the SAVE Act or the MEGA Act, asserting that the Republican-driven election integrity bills ran contrast to GOP opposition for federalizing elections.
“Once again, I do not support these efforts. Not only does the U.S. Constitution clearly provide states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections, but one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska,” she posted on X.
Murkowski, a prominent critic of the Trump administration, has long represented Alaska and is broadly recognized as one of the Senate Republicans most likely to break with her party on key votes. She specifically asserted that an effort to impose sweeping election requirements on states ahead of Election Day would prove unduly burdensome.
“Election Day is fast approaching. Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies likely without the necessary resources,” she said.
Murkowski is not up for reelection this year, but may face a Republican primary challenger in 2028. Fox News reported in August that Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is considering a Senate run.
Murkowski has faced past Republican primary challengers. In 2022, Kelly Tshibaka challenged Murkowski, but since Alaska has ranked-choice voting, the senator survived the nonpartisan primary. In the general election, Murkowski beat Tshibaka in the general election by less than 20,000 votes.
Before Alaska approved ranked-choice voting in 2020, Murkowski lost a Republican primary in 2010 to Joe Miller, but won the Senate election as a write-in candidate, which was the first time since 1954 that this accomplishment occurred.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “Lisa Murkowski” by Lisa Murkowski.
