Trump calls Murkowski a ‘disgrace’ to Alaska, criticizes ranked choice voting
It's telling that Trump chose to pair his personal attack on Murkowski with a swipe at ranked choice voting. The two issues are connected in his mind: Murkowski won her last election in part because Alaska's new system allowed her to appeal beyond the GOP base, and that's exactly the kind of cross-party appeal Trump has spent years trying to stamp out within the party.
Murkowski has survived these confrontations before. She won reelection as a write-in candidate in 2010 after losing the primary, and she has shown a willingness to take the heat from her own party's leadership. What's interesting here is whether the ranked choice angle gives Trump a policy hook that resonates beyond personal grievance. Some Republicans genuinely believe the system makes it harder for conservative candidates to win, and that argument has traction in other states too.
I'd want to know how Alaskans are actually reacting. Polling on ranked choice has shown mixed results nationally, and Murkowski's political survival suggests she understands her state's voters better than national critics do. The real question is whether this is about election integrity or about punishing a senator who refused to fall in line. My guess is it's mostly the latter, dressed up in policy language.