Fear factor: Murkowski and Peltola refuse to say if they’re voting for Harris, but they say they won’t vote for Trump

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was impressed with Kamala Harris’ debate performance against Donald Trump earlier this week, according to a new interview with her in the publication Semafor. Murkowski is warming up to Vice President Harris, it appears, saying Harris has “leadership presence,” but stopping short of endorsing her.

Murkowski told the reporter she “saw a side of Kamala Harris that I’ve not seen before, which was a firm and clear kind of leadership presence. Maybe that was just practiced and rehearsed for one time only. But I think it came across … that was news to me. I’d never seen her in gatherings where she’s kind of talking leader-to-leader.”

It may be shocking for Alaskans who saw the debate between Trump and Harris, because Harris did not answer the questions but instead pivoted to her pre-planned answers. But for Murkowski, it was a good performance.

In fact, Murkowski may have a memory block. She has, indeed, been with Harris in leadership situations. She attended a luncheon of women leaders in Washington, D.C. in 2021, hosted by Vice President Harris, and the vice president seated Murkowski right next to her.

But newly discovered leadership presence and stunning debate skills aside, “I’m still really struggling with the policy perspectives that she brings to the table that for a state like mine are really hard. Really, really hard. So, I’m still ‘none of the above,’” Murkowski told Semafor’s reporter. Murkowski was one of just seven Republicans who voted in favor of convicting Trump during his second impeachment trial; her distaste for Trump is poorly disguised and he has no warmth toward her, either.

Will Murkowski throw her vote away and write someone’s name in? Why won’t she just tell Alaskans who she thinks is best for the state in terms of policy? She says she is worried about Harris’ policies, so what does she think about Trump’s policies? Or is this simply fear that if Trump is elected, she will be sidelined?

Murkowski is joined by Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, none of whom are supporting Trump, but all of whom are in the “none of the above” category.

Sen. Murkowski is also joined by Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola, who is refusing to say if she will vote for Harris, but it’s clear from her words she will not be voting for Trump.

“I’m not voting for Trump & I’m not endorsing anyone else either. The media won’t allow us to engage in nuanced conversation because it doesn’t sell clicks. I won’t vote for a candidate who’s not pro-choice. I can’t ask Alaskans to vote for a candidate who’s not pro-energy,” Peltola said on X/Twitter in July.

As she is in the heat of her reelection bid and is considered vulnerable, she is not saying who she supports. Her statements in the past have been that she wants to stay away from controversy. She often skips votes in the House when she thinks they are too controversial. Or she is known to just vote “present,” as she did on the Alaska’s Right to Produce Act, after telling her Democrat colleagues to oppose it.

Rather than be on record voting for Harris at the National Democratic Convention in August, Peltola just skipped going, even though she was a delegate with voting responsibilities.

This refusal to go public on a matter of the greatest consequence for Alaska is unheard of, and that makes it historic for Alaska: Two of the three sitting representatives in Washington, D.C. are simply not going to tell Alaskans who they are going to vote for in the presidential race.

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan has already endorsed Trump. In February he said that the policies of the Trump Administration were vastly better for Alaska than the over 65 executive orders Biden has signed that have targeted Alaska’s economy. Sullivan served for two years parallel to the Obama Administration, four years while Trump was president, and through Biden’s three and a half years, and he’s seen the difference.

Sullivan said in Ketchikan that “the two leading Presidential candidates both have detailed records on Alaska: Biden gets a “D-“ and Trump gets a “strong A.” In fact, working with me and our Republican Senate majority, the Trump Administration’s record to advance the interests of Alaskans is unmatched: ANWR, access to NPR-A, the King Cove Road, the Ambler Road, allotments for our heroic Alaska Native Vietnam Veterans, the Tongass Roadless rule exemption, reestablishing our state’s right to manage fish and game, Operation Lady Justice to address the missing and murdered indigenous women crisis, historic investments in public safety for rural Alaska villages, defending our Second Amendment rights, appointing conservative judges to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and putting prominent Alaskans in Senate confirmed assistant secretary positions at the Department of the Interior.

“From Day 1, President Biden has focused on reversing this historic record of achievement to the significant detriment of Alaskans. If re-elected, President Biden will continue his aggressive, illegal push to turn Alaska into a giant national park. For all these reasons, I am again supporting former President Trump for President and working with my colleagues to regain a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate,” Sullivan said.

“Alaskans deserve to know who their elected leaders support,” said Randy Ruedrich, former chairman of the Alaska Republican Party. “It’s one of the things you do in representing us. If you’re afraid to represent us, maybe you should not be there.”

One politico at a Republican fundraiser in Anchorage on Friday night said, “We all know Mary and Lisa are both voting for Harris but they’re chickening out and won’t admit it publicly. This is just showing weakness and fear.”