Murkowski snubs Trump-backed Alaska candidate, endorses Democrat for governor

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Cite

Nitzberg, A. (2026, October 28). Murkowski snubs Trump-backed Alaska candidate, endorses Democrat for governor. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/murkowski-snubs-trump-backed-alaska-candidate-endorses-democrat-governor

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Fox News · collected 2026-10-28 · by Alex Nitzberg

Quick Summary

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins over President Trump's favored Republican candidate Bernadette Wilson. In a KTUU interview, Murkowski praised Kreiss-Tomkins for his ability to work across party lines and find common ground on fiscal issues, energy costs, and economic growth. She urged Alaskans to support leaders who prioritize the state’s interests above partisan politics. Kreiss-Tomkins accepted the endorsement, emphasizing his commitment to cooperation rather than political conflict.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-28, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) endorsed Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, the Democratic candidate for governor in Alaska, a week before Election Day on October 28, 2026. In an email statement and interview with KTUU, Murkowski urged voters to set aside partisan politics and support Kreiss-Tomkins and his running mate, Zac Johnson (an independent). The endorsement is seen as significant given that Alaska uses ranked choice voting, where the only Democrat on the ballot could benefit from cross-party backing. Murkowski highlighted Kreiss-Tomkins' ability to work across the aisle and stressed the need for a governor who can collaborate with the Legislature. She criticized other Republican candidates for being too partisan, including Bernadette Wilson, who has been endorsed by President Trump.

Written for “Murkowski Endorses Democrat For Governor” on 2026-10-28, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 112360: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-28

Story

📰 Murkowski Endorses Democrat For Governor
Politics · 3 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski endorses Democratic candidate in Alaska governor’s race same event · 100%
NBC News · 0.94 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 5% hedged 1 of 20 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles report on Sen. Lisa Murkowski endorsing Democratic candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins for Alaska governor, snubbing Trump-backed candidates, on the same date.”
GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski backs Democrat in Alaska gubernatorial race same event · 100%
Washington Examiner · 0.91 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 50% hedged 1 of 2 📰 publisher trust 70
“Both articles describe Sen. Lisa Murkowski endorsing Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins on the same day.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
13
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
1 of 13 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
70/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-28 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Alex Nitzberg
22 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Alaska needs leaders who will put our state first, and I’m proud to support them.
2026-10-28 · assertive framing · Murkowski snubs Trump-backed Alaska candidate, endorses Democrat for governor
🔮 The Associated Press contributed to this report This is a breaking news story and will be updated
2026-10-21 · mixed framing · Russia releases American teacher imprisoned on Ukraine mercenary charges after Trump pressed Putin
🔮 "Senator Ossoff, you've repeatedly said you won't run for president in 2028, but your name continues to surface as a potential contender," Bluestein said, adding, "So will you pledge right now tonight to serve your full six-year term if you win?"
2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Dem senator says 'zero interest in running for president' in debate with GOP opponent
🔮 A bipartisan group of senators is urging Donald Trump to scrap his recently announced diesel deal with Russia, warning it could help President Vladimir Putin finance his war against Ukraine and calling the agreement "a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies."
2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Bipartisan senators demand Trump scrap Russia diesel deal, call it 'betrayal' of US allies
🔮 Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat currently running to regain a U.S. Senate seat in Ohio after losing his 2024 re-election bid, has indicated that he would not support impeaching President Donald Trump.
2026-10-13 · assertive framing · Dem making Senate comeback bid says he wouldn't support a Trump impeachment push
🔮 Holly Thomas, a bakery founder, said in an Oct. 8 Facebook post that she would never vote for Marshall because his campaign had failed to pay a $678.75 bill despite her repeated attempts to collect the money.
2026-10-12 · assertive framing · Senate Republican settles six-year-old campaign bill after being called out on social media
🔮 If this was a fight they would have stopped it," the president declared in a Truth Social post issued shortly after midnight on Friday.
2026-10-09 · assertive framing · Trump says Rogers 'completely obliterated' El-Sayed in debate
🔮 "In any event, I did the pardons, and made no deal, where a crooked politician would have, but I thought there would be a good chance that Cuellar, who was persecuted by Democrats because they didn’t like him, would have routinely gone over to the Republican Party — the people that saved him from years in prison," Trump wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post.
2026-10-08 · assertive framing · Trump calls Democrat he pardoned a 'loser' for not switching parties
🔮 His tariffs and war in Iran are driving up prices, and his budget ripped health care and food assistance away from children so billionaires could get another tax cut," Clinton said in a statement, according to reports.
2026-10-08 · assertive framing · Hillary Clinton issues endorsement in US midterm elections
🔮 "They could just freeze your money.
2026-10-08 · mixed framing · House Republican warns CBDC 'communist money' could lead US to 'dystopian' future
Also by Alex Nitzberg
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2026-10-21 · Fox News
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2026-10-19 · Fox News
Dem senator says 'zero interest in running for president' in debate with GOP opponent
2026-10-14 · Fox News
Bipartisan senators demand Trump scrap Russia diesel deal, call it 'betrayal' of US allies
2026-10-14 · Fox News
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 22 articles by Alex Nitzberg →

Topics

Alaska Alaskans Democratic KTUU Republicans

Subjects

Alaska GPE · 5× Alaskans NORP · 3× Jonathan PERSON · 3× Murkowski PERSON · 3× Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins PERSON · 2× Republicans NORP · 2× Democratic NORP · 1× KTUU ORG · 1× Lisa Murkowski PERSON · 1× Zac Johnson PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has thrown her support behind Democratic Alaska gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins as well as his nonpartisan running mate for lieutenant governor Zac Johnson.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-28
🔮 Alaska needs leaders who will put our state first, and I’m proud to support them.
2026-10-28 · Fox News
Murkowski snubs Trump-backed Alaska candidate, endorses Democrat for governor · assertive framing

Claims (13 extracted, 1 hedged)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has thrown her support behind Democratic Alaska gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins as well as his nonpartisan running mate for lieutenant governor Zac Johnson. asserted
Murkowski → throw → Johnson
"I am announcing my endorsement of Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins," Murkowski told KTUU, describing the candidate as "a common-sense guy who has a known ability to be working together." asserted
who → announce → ability
"Our future is too important to be hamstrung by partisan divisions," Murkowski said, according to a press release from the Kreiss-Tomkins campaign " uncertain
Murkowski → hamstring → campaign
Jonathan understands that governing requires listening to people with different perspectives and finding common ground to solve the problems all of us face. asserted
all → understand → us
Alaska needs a serious conversation about our fiscal future, as well as a focus on the cost of energy and growing our economy. asserted
Alaska → need → economy
I believe Jonathan is committed to working toward solutions that serve all Alaskans, regardless of party," she added. asserted
she → believe → party
"I encourage Alaskans of every political stripe, whether Republicans, independents, or Democrats, to take a close look at Jonathan and Zac. asserted
I → encourage → Jonathan
Alaska needs leaders who will put our state first, and I’m proud to support them. asserted
I → need → them
" While there are multiple Republicans running in the ranked-choice voting contest, President Donald Trump has endorsed Bernadette Wilson. asserted
Trump → be → Wilson
"I'm honored to have Senator Murkowski’s support," Kreiss-Tomkins noted, according his campaign's release. asserted
Tomkins → honor → release
"Alaskans deserve a government that can work through disagreements and make progress on the issues that matter. asserted
that → deserve → issues
I am committed to working with our congressional delegation, the legislature, industry, and communities across the state to move Alaska forward. asserted
I → commit → Alaska
That work requires cooperation, not political conflict," he added. asserted
he → require → cooperation
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