Murkowski under assault for 'helping Dems defeat Trump'

 Washington Examiner:

Alaska Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka says Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski failed their home state by turning her back on former President Donald Trump.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Tshibaka explained that President Joe Biden made clear he wanted to close the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and despite knowing how vital the oil fields are to the state, Murkowski aided his reelection bid by rejecting Trump.

“She picked a needless fight with Donald Trump. His policies were really good for Alaska. He opened up oil and gas jobs for us. He reduced taxes for us. He supported our military. We have a strong military presence up here, and he rebuilt the military, and her impeachment vote made a lot of people angry in Alaska,” Tshibaka said.

Tshibaka referenced the Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing for Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. Haaland, the former New Mexico Democratic congresswoman, always opposed drilling in the Arctic. Murkowski is a longtime member of the committee, and Tshibaka wondered why the senator did not press her on her state's oil leases.

“She didn't ask her a single question about what her position was on the future of the oil leases and permits, and that really is determinative of what our future for oil and gas jobs are going to be. Biden has already signaled that he intends to shut down oil and gas development in Alaska,” Tshibaka said.

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Tshibaka’s personal history is connected to her state’s financial interest in the oil and gas industry. The Harvard-trained attorney, who spent 18 years in Washington in the Justice Department’s Inspector General’s Office, came from a blue-collar family background.

“My parents moved up to Alaska when our state was really prosperous. They came up looking for more opportunity. My dad was a union electrician, and he served in Vietnam. And my mom was one of the Alaskans who helped the Prudhoe Bay startup,” Tshibaka said.

The Prudhoe Bay oil field is located in Alaska’s North Slope and has been producing for over 40 years. It is considered to be one of largest oil fields in the country.

“But she came up before there was a pipeline, and life was hard for them. At times, they were homeless for a while, but they fought their way into the middle class, and they taught me how to work for everything I've got. I got to be the first in my family to pursue a college degree and went off to college, went off to law school,” Tshibaka said. “I wanted to come back home, and I had an opportunity to, but Alaska has really declined since I was born and raised here.”

She added: “It's just not the same state. In the last 20 years or so, we've been really short on opportunity, and that's the same amount of time Lisa Murkowski has been in the Senate.”

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I think Tshibaka sounds like a more dependable Republican.  She also sounds like someone who understands how damaging Biden will be to the Alaskan economy with his anti-energy policies and his desire to waste money on failed Big Green tech.