Dem
47
GOP
53
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) sat for an interview with the GD Politics podcast this weekend. The actual episode won't be released until today, but the people who do that podcast know how to promote themselves. And so, they have already shared the part where Murkowski said she's open to switching over to the Senate Democratic Caucus if it "would help Alaskans."
Murkowski was actually quite specific about the terms under which she might ponder changing sides of the aisle. First, control of the Senate would have to be in play (meaning a net gain of 3 seats for the Democrats). Second, there would have to be a mountain of pork headed in the direction of The Last Frontier (she did not use those exact words, but surely that was her implied meaning). Third, she would not become a Democrat, but instead would switch her affiliation to independent.
There are a lot of "ifs" and "maybes" involved here, so don't put Murkowski in the blue column quite yet. That said, a politician does not say these sorts of things openly if they are not already pretty far down the road to a potential switch. Further, Murkowski's words were very carefully chosen, so that if she does make a move, she can present herself as a Republican-leaning independent. With Alaska's ranked-choice system, that would probably get her a fair number of Republican votes (especially if second-place votes end up coming into play), and a fair number of Democratic votes (again, especially if second-place votes end up coming into play). And don't forget that she's already won election as an independent once before (and that was with the added burden of having to be a write-in candidate).
So, it seems very plausible to us, if the stars line up just right. (Z)