After twice endorsing Democrat Mary Peltola in her 2022 and 2024 U.S. House races, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has decided to now side with her fellow Republicans and back U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan’s bid to keep his seat.

In 2022, Murkowski chose to buck her party and back Peltola who was running against Begich and Sarah Palin to fill the seat that was vacated when longtime GOP Congressman Don Young died while in office. Then in 2024, Murkowski, once again, broke with her party to back Peltola’s unsuccessful reelection bid against Begich.

Now that Peltola is making a third foray into national politics, Murkowski has agreed to back the GOP candidate.

Her latest pledge of allegiance was formalized in a Jan. 15 announcement that claimed, “Murkowski swiftly endorsed Sullivan on Monday, citing their work together in the Senate, despite previously backing Peltola in her previous House races.”

 But it wasn’t clear to the public which way Murkowski would swing this time around, especially given her frequent propensity to abandon the GOP when it comes to numerous key votes.

On Jan. 6, just nine days before deciding to back Sullivan, Murkowski held a sit-down interview with the Northern Journal in which she was asked if she would back her fellow Senate Republican if Peltola challenged him.

“You know, I made it very clear, when Nick Begich was running against Mary (in 2024) — I said, ‘No offense to you, Nick, but Mary has been my longtime friend, and I’m going to support her,’” Murkowski said. “If she were to run against my colleague, yeah: It puts me in a difficult spot. But I also think it puts a lot of Alaskans in a difficult spot. Mary, not unlike me, is able to attract support from both sides, right? And granted, it’s early right now. But my sense is that Dan is doing a pretty good job of shoring up this support from not only traditional Republican voters and donors, but from many who kind of view themselves more independently.”

Once Peltola made her campaign bid official this week, Murkowski quickly backed Sullivan.

“I wish Mary well. She is my long-time friend,” she said on Jan. 15. “That said, I have worked with Senator Sullivan for the past 12 years, and I strongly believe that a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate is in Alaska’s best interests … I will be supporting Dan’s re-election – just as I did in 2014 and 2020.”

Begich, who also endorsed Sullivan, offered no such praise for Peltola.

“While my predecessor [Peltola] spent her time empowering national Democrats and failing to pass a single piece of legislation out of the House, Dan Sullivan was busy getting big things done for Alaska,” he said. “From unleashing our energy by fighting for the Willow project and unlocking ANWR and the NPR-A, to securing historic investments in Alaska’s healthcare, military and Coast Guard, Dan has proven time and time again that he is an Alaska First, America First fighter who delivers for our state.”

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