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The 2022 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 8, 2022. Incumbent Republican senator Lisa Murkowski won reelection to a fourth full term, defeating fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka and Democrat Patricia Chesbro.[1]

Quick Facts Candidate, Party ...
2022 United States Senate election in Alaska

 2016 November 8, 2022 2028 
 
Candidate Lisa Murkowski Kelly Tshibaka Pat Chesbro
Party Republican Republican Democratic
First round 113,495
43.37%
111,480
42.60%
27,145
10.37%
Final round 136,330
53.70%
117,534
46.30%
Eliminated

Murkowski:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Tshibaka:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Lisa Murkowski
Republican

Elected U.S. senator

Lisa Murkowski
Republican

Close

This was the first U.S. Senate election in Alaska to be held under a new election process provided for in Ballot Measure 2. All candidates ran in a nonpartisan blanket top-four primary on August 16, 2022, and the top four candidates advanced to the general election, where voters utilized ranked-choice voting.[2][3]

Murkowski had been a vocal critic of Donald Trump during his presidency and opposed several of his initiatives. Murkowski was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial in 2021, and was the only one up for re-election in 2022. On March 16, 2021, the Alaska Republican Party voted to censure Murkowski and announced that it would recruit a Republican challenger in the 2022 election cycle. Kelly Tshibaka, a former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration, was endorsed by Trump and the Alaska Republican Party.[4][5][6] Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and the National Republican Senatorial Committee supported Murkowski.[7]

In addition to Murkowski and Tshibaka, Democrat Pat Chesbro and Republican Buzz Kelley also advanced to the general election. On September 13, Kelley suspended his campaign and endorsed Tshibaka but remained on the ballot.[8] Murkowski received a plurality of first-place votes; however, because no candidate received a majority of the votes in the first round, an instant runoff was triggered. Murkowski won reelection in the third and final round, winning most of the second-choice votes from Chesbro's voters.[9]

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Primary election

Republican Party

Advanced to general

Withdrew after advancing to general

  • Buzz Kelley, retired mechanic[12] (remained on ballot; endorsed Tshibaka)[a][13]

Eliminated in primary

Disqualified

Declined

Democratic Party

Advanced to general

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Libertarian Party

Eliminated in primary

  • Sean Thorne, veteran[28]

Alaskan Independence Party

Eliminated in primary

Declined

Independents

Eliminated in primary

  • Dave Darden, perennial candidate[29]
  • Shoshana Gungurstein, businesswoman
  • Sid Hill, political gadfly and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2014[29]
  • Jeremy Keller, television personality[14]
  • Huhnkie Lee, attorney, army veteran and Republican candidate for Alaska Senate in 2020[15]

Declined

Results

Primary election results by state house district
More information Party, Candidate ...
Primary election results[12][32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lisa Murkowski (incumbent) 85,794 45.05%
Republican Kelly Tshibaka 73,414 38.55%
Democratic Patricia Chesbro 12,989 6.82%
Republican Buzz Kelley 4,055 2.13%
Republican Pat Nolin 2,004 1.05%
Democratic Edgar Blatchford 1,981 1.04%
Democratic Ivan R. Taylor 1,897 1.00%
Republican Sam Merrill 1,529 0.80%
Libertarian Sean Thorne 1,399 0.73%
Independent Shoshana Gungurstein 853 0.45%
Independence Joe Stephens 805 0.42%
Republican John Schiess 734 0.39%
Independence Dustin Darden 649 0.34%
Republican Kendall L. Shorkey 627 0.33%
Republican Karl Speights 613 0.32%
Independent Jeremy Keller 405 0.21%
Independent Sid Hill 274 0.14%
Independent Huhnkie Lee 238 0.12%
Independent Dave Darden 198 0.10%
Total votes 190,458 100.0%
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General election

Predictions

More information Source, Ranking ...
Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[33] Solid R March 4, 2022
Inside Elections[34] Solid R April 1, 2022
Sabato's Crystal Ball[35] Safe R March 1, 2022
Politico[36] Solid R September 5, 2022
RCP[37] Safe R September 15, 2022
Fox News[38] Solid R May 12, 2022
DDHQ[39] Solid R July 20, 2022
FiveThirtyEight[40] Solid R October 24, 2022
The Economist[41] Safe R September 7, 2022
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Debates and forums

More information No., Date ...
2022 United States Senate election in Alaska debates
No. Date Host Link Participants
 P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Non-invitee   I  Invitee   W  Withdrawn  
Lisa Murkowski Kelly Tshibaka Patricia Chesbro Buzz Kelley
1 September 1, 2022 Denaʼina Civic and Convention Center
Alaska Oil and Gas Association
Anchorage Daily News
[42] P P P A
2 October 10, 2022 Anchorage Chamber of Commerce [43] P P P W
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Endorsements

Pat Chesbro (D)

Organizations

Lisa Murkowski (R)

Executive branch officials

Governors

U.S. Senators

U.S. Representatives

State Legislators

Newspapers

Organizations

Labor unions

Kelly Tshibaka (R)

Executive branch officials

Governors

Local officials

Individuals

Organizations

Polling

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[b]
Margin
of error
RCV
count
Lisa
Murkowski
(R)
Kelly
Tshibaka
(R)
Pat
Chesbro
(D)
Buzz
Kelley
(R)
Undecided /
Not Ranked
Alaska Survey Research[86] October 19–22, 2022 1,276 (LV) ±3.0%
1 41% 39% 16% 4%
2 42% 41% 17% [c]
3 56% 44% [d]
Alaska Survey Research[87] September 25–27, 2022 1,282 (LV) ±3.0%
1 41% 39% 16% 4%
2 42% 41% 17% [c]
3 57% 43% [d]
Fabrizio Ward (R)/Impact Research (D)[88][A] September 6–11, 2022 1,050 (LV) [e] N/A[f] 35% 43% 13% 1% 7% U
1 38% 46% 14% 2% 7% NR
2 38% 47% 14% [g] 8% NR
3 50% 50% [h] 10% NR
Close
More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[b]
Margin
of error
RCV
count
Pat
Chesbro
(D)
Dustin
Darden
(AIP)
Elvi
Gray-Jackson
(D)
Al
Gross
(D/I)
John
Howe
(AIP)
Joe
Miller
(L)
Lisa
Murkowski
(R)
Sarah
Palin
(R)
Kelly
Tshibaka
(R)
Other Undecided
Alaska Survey Research[89] July 2–5, 2022 1,201 (LV) ± 2.9% 1 17% 5% 35% 43%
2 20% 36% 45%
3 52% 48%
Cygnal (R)[90][B] March 14–16, 2022 500 (LV) ± 4.2% 1 29% 45% 26%
? 49% 51%
Alaska Survey Research[91] October 22–27, 2021 969 (RV) ± 3.2% 1 22% 35% 20% 23%
2 23% 42% 35%
3 60% 40%
Alaska Survey Research[92] July 11–21, 2021 947 (LV) ± 3.2% 1 19% 18% 36% 27%
2 21% 39% 40%
3 55% 45%
Change Research (D)[93][C] May 22–25, 2021 1,023 (LV) ± 3.1% BA 25% 4% 19% 39% 1%[i] 12%
3[j] 46% 54%
Close
More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[b]
Margin
of error
Lisa
Murkowski (R)
Kelly
Tshibaka (R)
Undecided
Alaska Survey Research[94] April 16–21, 2022 1,208 (LV) ± 2.9% 55% 45%
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Hypothetical polling

Lisa Murkowski vs. Kelly Tshibaka

Results

Thumb
Preference flow
More information Party, Candidate ...
2022 United States Senate election in Alaska[95][96]
Party Candidate First choice Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
Votes  % Transfer Votes  % Transfer Votes  % Transfer Votes  %
Republican Lisa Murkowski (incumbent) 113,495 43.37% +623 114,118 43.39% +1,641 115,759 44.49% +20,571 136,330 53.70%
Republican Kelly Tshibaka 111,480 42.60% +621 112,101 42.62% +3,209 115,310 44.32% +2,224 117,534 46.30%
Democratic Pat Chesbro 27,145 10.37% +1,088 28,233 10.73% +901 29,134 11.20% −29,134 Eliminated
Republican Buzz Kelley (withdrew)[a] 7,557 2.89% +1,018 8,575 3.26% −8,575 Eliminated
Write-in 2,028 0.77% -2,028 Eliminated
Total votes 261,705 263,027 260,203 253,864
Blank or inactive ballots 3,770 +2,824 6,594 +6,339 12,933
Republican hold
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See also

Notes

  1. Remained on the ballot because he withdrew after the deadline of 64 days ahead of the election.[13]
  2. Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  3. Kelley eliminated.
  4. Chesbro eliminated.
  5. The margin of sampling error for the 500 statewide sample is ±4.4%; for the 840 total sample of voters 50+ is ±3.3%.
  6. Standard polling question.
  7. Kelley eliminated. Vote transfer breakdown: 29% to Tshibaka and 71% not ranked further.
  8. Chesbro eliminated. Vote transfer breakdown: 77% to Murkowski, 8% to Tshibaka, and 15% not ranked further.
  9. Would not vote with 1%
  10. Excluding undecided voters

Partisan clients

  1. Poll sponsored by AARP
  2. This poll was sponsored by Kelly Tshibaka's campaign
  3. This poll was sponsored by 314 Action
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References

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