Senator Lisa Murkowski says she’s thought about leaving the Republican Party — and even considered joining the Democrats.
In a recent interview with Semafor ahead of her new book Far From Home, the Alaska senator admitted, “Have I considered it? Yes, because I’ve been asked the question.” But she added, “I would be not being honest with you if I said I’ve never been asked … ‘Why don’t you switch?’ Or people have said, ‘You should switch.’”
Though she’s considered the idea, Murkowski made clear she isn’t ready to make the jump. She has serious issues with both parties. “As challenged as I think we may be on the Republican side, I don’t see Democrats being much better,” she said on the GD Politics podcast.
She said she sometimes feels out of place in her own party. “Do I feel that within my Republican conference, I always feel like I’m right here in my political home? No,” she said. “There’s some directions and policies that I disagree with.” Still, she noted, her views line up “more closely” with Republicans overall.
But her frustration with the two-party system is real. “The construct that we’re working with right now, I don’t think is the best construct,” she said, pointing to alternatives like ranked choice voting and bipartisan coalitions. She praised Alaska’s state legislature, where lawmakers from both parties work together. “If you’ve got good ideas … it doesn’t make any difference if you’re a Republican or a Democrat,” she said. “We can govern together for the good of the state.”
When asked if she’d consider becoming an independent who caucuses with Democrats — especially if it gave her leverage to win key policies for Alaska — she didn’t say no.
“It’s an interesting hypothetical,” she said. “I have to figure how I can be most effective for the people that I serve.” Pressed further, Murkowski replied, “There may be that possibility.”
She’s walked a lonely path before. In 2010, after losing her Republican primary, supporters urged her to go Libertarian. She didn’t. Instead, she won the general election as a write-in candidate — a rare feat in modern politics. “I can’t be somebody that I’m not,” she said.
One of her biggest divides with Democrats has been over Alaska’s oil and gas industry. Murkowski delivered a major blow to Democrats in 2017 when she helped push through a bill to open oil lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, despite heavy opposition from the left.
Switching parties wouldn’t come without cost. Murkowski would likely lose her senior roles on key Senate committees, including the powerful Appropriations Committee. She currently chairs the subcommittee that oversees the Interior Department and leads the Indian Affairs Committee.
Despite that, she’s clearly fed up with Washington’s partisan warfare. “There’s some openness to exploring something different than the status quo,” she said.
