Lisa Murkowski beats Trump candidate Kelly Tshibaka in Alaska Senate race

Lisa Murkowski has defeated fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka in the Alaska Senate race. Both Tshibaka and Murkowski failed to obtain more than 50% of the required votes during the first round, which triggered a runoff. In this second round election, Murkowski emerged victorious with 53.7% of the vote, compared to Tshibaka's 46.3%.

Tshibaka had Donald Trump's support, while the former president referred to Murkowski as "worse than a Democrat." Murkowkski, who has served as senator since 2003, drew the ire of former President Donald Trump after she voted to impeach Trump during his second impeachment trial. Trump showed his support for challenger Kelly Tshibaka in an attempt to oust the incumbent.

Under Alaska's new preference voting system, a candidate wins outright in the first round of voting if they obtain more than 50% of the votes. If this does not occur, the candidate with the lowest amount of votes is eliminated, and a second round of voting is held. The process continues until a candidate exceeds 50% of the votes. This is how two Republican candidates, Murkowski and Tshibaka, ended up on the midterm ballot.

New victory for Peltola

Murkowski defied her own party last month when she endorsed Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola for the House of Representatives.

In the election held on Nov. 8, Peltola won 136,839 votes, compared to 112,255 for former Governor Sarah Palin. The third candidate, Nick Begich who had 64,392 votes, was eliminated. In the following round, Begich's voters had to choose between either Peltola or Palin. In doing so, Peltola has become the first Alaska Native to win a congressional election and the first woman to represent Alaska in the House.

A special election was held last summer following the death of Republican Rep. Don Young. Peltola won that election, defeating the same Republican candidates who ran in the midterms: Sarah Palin and Nick Begich. She was re-elected to a full term in the November midterms, causing Alaska's at-large House seat, which for decades was in the hands of the Republican party, to turn blue for the first time.