Congress

‘Lisa is Lisa’: Murkowski endorses a Democrat as she faces 2028 dilemma

Published

16 minutes ago

October 28, 2026

GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski endorsed a Democrat for governor this week as she ponders her own reelection decision. Amid speculation about her retirement, political operatives and longtime watchers say it’s not necessarily a clue as to what she’s thinking.

Murkowski backed Democratic candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins to lead her home state Tuesday, saying that he would “serve all Alaskans, regardless of party.”

Her decision is a break with her party, which has three candidates in the four-way ranked choice general election next week. President Donald Trump has backed GOP candidate Bernadette Wilson to succeed outgoing GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

It could be read by some as an indication that Murkowski might be contemplating retirement rather than seeking reelection in 2028 — or positioning herself to win by appealing across the aisle, as she has done in the past. Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the senator and could rally Alaska Republicans to oust her.

But back home, her move to endorse a Democrat who is promising to work productively with state legislators of both parties is being viewed as further evidence of her well-known independent streak rather than tea leaves to be read about her own race.

“It’s certainly no surprise. Lisa is Lisa. She doesn’t make decisions based on party,” said Art Hackney, a GOP operative in Alaska running a super PAC for Sen. Dan Sullivan. “She’s looked at the four candidates and decided JKT is the best choice.”

Longtime Alaska political aide and journalist Larry Persily also said in an interview that he does not think Murkowski’s endorsement is a “signal for 2028.”

He called the move “the indication of her frustration with the current [Dunleavy] administration,” adding that she “doesn’t want to see anything close to a repeat. I think it’s a realization that her voice matters in Alaska.”

She hasn’t made a decision about running for reelection and has said little publicly about her thinking. Spokespeople for Murkowski did not respond to a question Wednesday about her endorsement or her 2028 decision.

It’s not the first time Murkowski has endorsed a Democrat. While she is backing Sullivan in his current battleground Senate race, she previously backed his Democratic rival, then-Rep. Mary Peltola, in the at-large House race. Murkowski’s father, former U.S. senator and former Gov. Frank Murkowski, is also backing Kreiss-Tomkins.

Further evidence of Lisa Murkowski’s independence was on display this week surrounding the 2026 Senate race — and allegations that Democrats schemed to put a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot to confuse voters.

After the Justice Department filed a lawsuit last week to block certification, citing the two Sullivans on the ballot, Murkowski pushed back in a statement, saying “Alaskans don’t need any help voting for their preferred candidates.”

Then, after the New York Times published evidence Wednesday that Peltola’s campaign and national Democratic operatives had knowledge of the plans, Murkowski spoke out again to say Peltola and her campaign needed to share the “honest truth” about “a pattern of lies and coverups and a culture of deception that belongs nowhere in our elections or among our elected officials.”

Trump, meanwhile, has renewed his attacks on Murkowski, calling her the “worst senator” in a Truth Social post over the weekend following her criticism of the DOJ lawsuit.

Murkowski and Trump are also on opposite sides when it comes to Alaska’s ranked choice voting system, which eliminates traditional party primaries. Trump has blasted the state’s system as “corrupt,” pointing to the three Republicans on the ballot in the governor’s race compared to one Democratic candidate.

Alaska is one of only two states that use ranked choice voting statewide, and there is a referendum on this year’s ballot to repeal it. Some have credited the system for helping Murkowski defeat a challenger from her right in 2022.

Though Murkowski votes with her party most of the time, she’s been willing to break with the administration on key foreign and domestic policy questions and has voted against some of Trump’s Cabinet picks, including Todd Blanche’s nomination earlier this year to be attorney general.

Some Senate Republicans have privately questioned if Murkowski will run for reelection and, if she does, whether Trump will recruit another Republican to run against her. Murkowski defeated a Trump-backed challenger in 2022 after already pulling off a legendary electoral feat in 2010 by losing the GOP primary then winning the general election via a write-in campaign.

Heading into a 2028 race, Dunleavy has garnered months of speculation as a potential Senate candidate. But he has been dogged by low approval ratings and poor relations with other Alaska Republicans.

Murkowski said this week she has “found fault with the Dunleavy administration” and that it had “federal money on the table.”

After Fox News reported last year Dunleavy would challenge Murkowski, a spokesperson for the governor said in a statement that Dunleavy was “focused on moving Alaska forward during the remainder of his second term.” Spokespeople for Dunleavy did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday about Murkowski’s fresh criticism of his administration.

National Republican political operatives who were granted anonymity to speak candidly speculated that Dunleavy could be more interested in a potential Cabinet spot than a Senate seat if he decides to stay in politics.

Trump has repeatedly praised Dunleavy, including at a Sept. 30 White House event where he said he was a “great governor and a friend of mine.”

Congress

TV station says it is ‘pulling’ GOP ad attacking Pennsylvania House candidate

Published

2 hours ago

October 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A Harrisburg-area television station said it is “pulling” a controversial advertisement attacking Pennsylvania House candidate Janelle Stelson, who is locked in one of the country’s tightest House races.

The ad was sponsored by No Going Back, a group affiliated with the President Donald Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC. The ad raised an unsubstantiated public nudity allegation which Stelson — a longtime local broadcast journalist — denies. The PAC has spent $295,000 on the ad, which has aired on multiple local stations since Oct. 25, according data from ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

Stelson is facing Republican Rep. Scott Perry in the south-central Pennsylvania district. The No Going Back ad, and a similar spot from Perry’s campaign, have sparked significant local attention in the days before the election.

“We will continue to pursue every possible legal avenue to combat these verifiably false attacks that fail to meet the already miserably low standard of ethics Scott Perry has set for himself,” Stelson campaign manager Alma Baker said in a statement. “Perry should take the rest of his lying ads off the air.”

In a letter sent to stations airing the ad this week, lawyers for Stelson’s campaign and House Democrats’ campaign arm called the ad “false and defamatory” and demanded that it be taken down.

In a Wednesday morning email reviewed by Blue Light News, the general sales manager for ABC affiliate WHTM, Michael Nurse, informed lawyers that the station was “pulling the ad in question out of rotation as soon as we can” and noting the station did not receive a response from the advertising agency that placed the order.

In another email reviewed by Blue Light News, a representative for WGAL — the Harrisburg NBC affiliate where Stelson worked for over 25 years — said that they are “not airing” the ad.

Reached by phone, Nurse declined to comment. Other WHTM officials as well as spokespeople for WGAL did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for the Perry campaign referred a reporter to No Going Back PAC to answer questions about the ad. When reached for comment, a spokesperson for MAGA, Inc. shared two Oct. 28 letters from the super PAC’s attorney, Andrew Murphy, to local station managers and cable system operators saying “ad is true and must remain in rotation.”

While it is typical for officials to litigate campaign ads, it is highly unusual that television stations actually pull them down. A spokesperson for the DCCC said this is the first time this cycle that a campaign ad has been pulled by a station.

Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.

Congress

Pelosi in London

Published

6 hours ago

October 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

LONDON — Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi was spotted at the U.K. House of Common Wednesday, watch Britain’s new leader, Andy Burnham, at Prime Minister’s Questions. Perched up in the special galleries near political journalists, she studied the order of questions intently in between chatting to a top editor from the Daily Express.

Sadly for Pelosi, she didn’t have the best seat in the house — she was facing Opposition Leader Kemi Badenoch over the top of Burnham’s head — and she left midway through the main event of the day, Chancellor John Healey’s budget speech.

Congress

Capitol agenda: House GOP eyes Jordan vs. Scalise

Published

12 hours ago

October 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Republicans are coming to terms with the fact they could lose their majority next week and be launched into a nasty leadership race.

Speaker Mike Johnson recently signaled he could stay on as GOP leader in the minority. But interviews with three dozen GOP lawmakers and senior Republican aides reveal most are skeptical Johnson runs in that scenario. They’re keeping a close eye on two potential alternatives: Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise.

The two men are being careful not to acknowledge any jockeying in the final lead-up to the midterms, but many Republicans expect the contest to explode into plain view after Tuesday. Candidates only have until Nov. 6 to declare their intentions to run in the Nov. 10 GOP leader elections.

Scalise, after spending nearly eight years as the No. 2 House Republican, has raised scads of money and built back-slapping relationships with a broad cross-section of members.

But he is facing a squeeze if Dems win the majority: Rep. Tom Emmer intends to run for the party whip regardless of the outcome, which is the No. 2 spot in the minority. If Johnson were to try to stay on in that scenario, Scalise would be forced into a contested race to either move up or keep his rung on the GOP power ladder.

Scalise said in an interview that “anybody who’s measuring the drapes of the minority leader’s office is not focused on the right things.”

The math for a potential minority leader bid runs in Jordan’s favor: He needed near-unanimity to win a race for speaker — which he lost in 2023. But elections for minority leader involve Republicans voting among themselves, and the Ohio Republican has made conspicuous moves to build support with different factions of the party.

In an interview from the campaign trail in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Jordan said he’s “helping anybody, everybody,” and encouraging the GOP to “stick together.”

While Jordan and Scalise are being most closely watched for the No. 1 post, some believe Emmer could emerge as a candidate if others fail, as could Texas Rep. August Pfluger. Many will also be keeping eyes on President Donald Trump, who has yet to weigh in on the post-election GOP leadership picture.

Still, many, though not all, predict that a Republican midterm wipeout could leave members reluctant to elevate a member of the existing leadership structure and instead choose a known face of the conservative insurgency.

“It’s Jordan’s race to lose,” said a House Republican granted anonymity to speak candidly about the as-yet-unofficial race. “I think it’s his time.”

What else we’re watching:

— TRUMP’S RUSSIA EMBRACE FALLOUT: Trump may have finally alienated the faction key to delivering his colossal defense budget: Republican hawks. The president — relying on the reconciliation process — will need almost unanimous support from Senate and House Republicans to enact his $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget after the midterm elections, especially if the GOP is about to lose one or both chambers of Congress. But Trump’s recent receptiveness to Russia has alarmed the very people pushing for more military spending. And they warn that his agenda won’t survive if the embrace of Moscow continues.

— OIL STATE DEMOCRAT REVIVAL?: Next week’s midterm elections could usher in the revival of a rare type of politician: Democratic senators representing states rich in fossil fuels — and Republicans. Moderate Democrats view potential wins from Senate candidates like James Talarico of Texas and Mary Peltola of Alaska as a way to broaden the party’s tent on energy issues heading into what’s expected to be a competitive 2028 election cycle. It could also challenge the sway environmental groups have had with the party in recent decades.

Mia McCarthy, Meredith Lee Hill, Connor O’Brien, Mark Satter and Pavan Acharya contributed to this report.