Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, seen here in the Senate chamber in April 2022, has the backing of at least seven out-of-state billionaires in her bid to win a fourth term.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has won the backing of several billionaire donors in her battle for a fourth term. Leading the pack is hedge fund tycoon Ken Griffin, one of seven moguls who have donated over $25,000 to help Murkowski stay in the Senate.
Griffin sent $1.5 million to Alaskans for L.I.S.A., a super PAC that can accept unlimited donations. The group, founded by former Murkowski campaign staffers, claims the acronym in its name stands for “Leadership In a Strong Alaska,” but it only backs one candidate: Murkowski, and has spent $2.7 million on her behalf. In addition to Griffin, fellow hedge funders John Arnold and Louis Bacon contributed $500,000 and $50,000 to the PAC, respectively. James and Kathryn Murdoch, the politically moderate heirs to the Murdoch media empire, have each given $250,000.
Billionaires from big Alaska industries have also pitched in. Michael S. Smith, who donated $200,000, and Jeffrey Hildebrand, who contributed $75,000, both made their fortunes in oil. Micky Arison, who along with his wife donated $25,000 total, runs Carnival Cruise Line.
Together, these billionaires—all of whom reside in the lower 48—have put nearly $3 million into Alaskans for L.I.S.A., funding ads that attack a Republican opponent, Kelly Tshibaka, over comments suggesting birth control pills should not be legal to mail and over fishing without a commercial license, for which Tshibaka was reportedly fined in October 2021.
Murkowski is defending a moderate record in the Senate—she is a rare pro-choice Republican who opposed GOP efforts to replace the Affordable Care Act in 2017 and voted to convict former President Trump after the January 6 insurrection. Her approval ratings in Alaska, according to a July poll, are higher among Democrats and Independents than Republicans, and in Tuesday’s all-party, top-four primary, she took 44% of the vote counted so far, leading the field. Her main challenger in November will likely be Tshibaka, a pro-life Republican who won Trump’s endorsement—and 40% of the votes on Tuesday. Due to Alaska’s unique election system that combines that open primary with ranked-choice voting in the general election, Murkowski, Tshibaka and two other challengers will all be on the ballot in November.
All that out-of-state money flowing into Alaskans for L.I.S.A.’s coffers will help Murkowski maintain her fundraising edge over Tshibaka. The incumbent’s official campaign committee, which operates separately from the super PAC, had $5.3 million on hand as of the end of July. Tshibaka’s campaign had just $800,000 on hand.