Alaska GOP weighs reprimanding Murkowski over Kavanaugh vote

Leaders of the Alaskan Republican Party are weighing a reprimand for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) for not voting to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Alaska’s GOP has asked Murkowski to send its state central committee any information she thinks may be relevant to its decision, The Associated Press reported on Monday.

{mosads}Party Chairman Tuckerman Babcock said the committee may issue a statement or withdraw its support for Murkowski. In the case of the latter, the committee would encourage officials to find a replacement and ask Murkowski not to run as a Republican for reelection. 

During her 2010 reelection bid, Murkowski lost her GOP primary but went on to win the general election as a write-in candidate.

Babcock told the AP that the party has taken away support from legislators who caucused with Democrats before, and that Alaskan Republicans are outraged with the senator’s decision.

Murkowski, the only Republican senator not to support Kavanaugh’s confirmation in a final floor vote, told reporters that any political retribution for her vote could make it difficult for her to fulfill the job with which Alaskans had tasked her.

Only one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), supported Kavanaugh’s confirmation in the Saturday vote.

President Trump said Saturday that Murkowski’s vote was “really unacceptable” in a brief phone interview with The Washington Post.

“I think she will never recover from this. I think the people from Alaska will never forgive her for what she did,” Trump said, predicting that Murkowski would have a tough primary race in 2022, when she is up for reelection.

Murkowski’s office did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.