On Thursday, Alaska Republican Party District 26 (Wasilla) convened and voted in favor of a resolution to censure Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The resolution, charging Murkowski with a series of offenses against core GOP principles, was formally adopted and will now be forwarded for consideration at the State Republican Central Committee meeting on Saturday.
The district had sent the charges to Murkowski and given her time to respond, but did not hear back from her.
This action follows a growing trend across the state. Earlier this year, a Kenai district committee unanimously passed a censure resolution, citing Murkowski’s repeated criticism of former President Trump, endorsement of Democratic candidates (notably support for Mary Peltola in 2022 and 2024), resistance to Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, and her advocacy for ranked-choice voting, viewed by Republicans as a direct conflict with their platform.
Since then, at least seven other districts have followed suit, supporting similar resolutions demanding sanctions. The Valley Republican Women of Alaska also passed a similar resolution condemning Murkowski.
This is not the GOP’s first move to formally rebuke Murkowski. In January 2021, the State Central Committee itself voted 77 percent in favor of censuring her, officially cataloging actions such as her public call for Trump’s resignation and her impeachment votes among the catalysts.
At this Saturday’s Alaska Republican Party State Central Committee meeting, delegates from around the state are expected to deliberate on these censures and consider another party censure of Murkowski.
Under party rules, if 19 of the 37 organized districts support, the Central Committee may enforce sanctions, ranging from formal censure to prohibiting Murkowski from receiving party support or attending convention events. Murkowski, originally appointed by her father Gov. Frank Murkowski to fill his seat in the Senate, has not actually received state party support since 2016 and she is not invited, nor does she attend party conventions.
The outcome would carry no direct effect on Murkowski’s Senate seat, which does not come up again for election until 2028. But a party-wide censure would send a message to Alaska voters that the Republicans are following a set process. Murkowski is the only member of the Senate or House in Alaska history who has been formally censured by her own political party.
