Challenger primed to face GOP's longtime Senate dissenter as Trump brings new focus to Alaska

foxnews.com/politics/challenger-primed-face-gops-longtime-senate-dissenter-trump-brings-new-focus-alaska

Charles Creitz

August 28, 2025

EXCLUSIVE: Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is primed to announce a 2028 run for U.S. Senate against Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Republican legislator who repeatedly has clashed with President Donald Trump, according to several sources familiar with the situation or close to the governor.

"He’s not going to quit his term," a top source close to Dunleavy who used to work with him in Juneau, Alaska, told Fox News Digital of the governor’s long-term plans. The next Senate race in the Last Frontier falls in 2026 for incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan.

The last governor to resign to run for higher office — 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin — "never recovered," the source said.

Dunleavy "cares deeply about and wants Alaska to succeed," the source said, adding the governor recently quipped that he can’t understand why people would want to "live with all this concrete" in Washington and not in the verdant Arctic as one reason the Pennsylvania-born Republican likes to otherwise avoid the East Coast.

Dunleavy vs. Murkowski? That’s quite a story, Fox News

mustreadalaska.com/dunleavy-vs-murkowski-thats-quite-a-story-fox-news

Suzanne Downing

August 29, 2025

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Gov. Mike Dunleavy

Fox News is reporting that Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy may challenge US Sen. Lisa Murkowski in 2028, citing only an unnamed source said to be someone who “once worked with Dunleavy.”

Dunleavy, whose second term as governor runs through 2026, would be 67 years old by the time of the 2028 general election. Murkowski, first appointed to the Senate in 2002, would be 71.

If elected to another six-year term, Murkowski would be 77 years old by its conclusion in January 2035. Dunleavy, if elected, would be 73 by the end of what would be his first Senate term. The ages of both politicians have fueled skepticism among political observers about whether either can count on long-term tenure in Washington.

The average age of senators in the US Senate is 64.7, but the average age of newly elected senators is 53.9.

Through a spokesman, Dunleavy responded cautiously to the Fox News report:

“Governor Dunleavy is focused on moving Alaska forward during the remainder of his second term by growing our economy through natural resource development, reforming public education and making Alaska an even better place to live and raise a family.”

The governor’s statement avoided confirming or denying the possibility of a Senate run. Morning Consult, a polling and survey firm that routinely measures the approval rating of governors, gave Dunleavy a net 18 positive approval rating in June. Alaska Survey Research polling shows Murkowski now has a negative rating, with 60% now viewing her unfavorably.

On national social media, speculation about a potential matchup spread quickly, with influencers treating the report as credible. But some Alaskans express doubt, noting that this is not a rumor in Alaska, but looks like a rumor mill operation with an unknown intent.

Murkowski’s political trajectory may be headed in another direction. In Alaska, speculation persists that she could run for governor in 2026, potentially closing her long career in elected office with a return to Juneau for four years, maybe with Mary Peltola as her running mate.

Still, with two years left in Dunleavy’s term and Murkowski’s seat not on the ballot until 2028, the political landscape could shift considerably before either makes a decision. For now, we rate this rumor as “highly speculative.”

Report: Gov. Dunleavy to challenge Sen. Murkowski in U.S. Senate race

alaskasnewssource.com/2025/08/29/report-gov-dunleavy-challenge-sen-murkowski-us-senate-race

Rebecca Palsha, Wil Courtney

August 29, 2025

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Gov. Mike Dunleavy will announce he’ll run against U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in 2028.

A news article posted Friday on Fox News, using unnamed sources, reports that Dunleavy will run in 2028.

The next senate race in Alaska is in 2026 against incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan, which means Dunleavy won’t challenge Sullivan and will wait to go against Murkowski.

When the governor’s office was asked by Alaska’s News Source if the report was accurate Jeff Turner, a spokesperson for the governor emailed: “Governor Dunleavy is focused on moving Alaska forward during the remainder of his second term by growing our economy through natural resource development, reforming public education and making Alaska an even better place to live and raise a family.”

Dunleavy is term-limited in his current position and is unable to run for re-election after serving eight years as Alaska’s governor. Several members of his administration are running to succeed him.

Alaska’s News Source reached out to Murkowski’s 2028 campaign for a response Friday, but were not immediately available for comment.

The senator did, however, leave the possibility of running for governor open in an August press conference.

“Sure,” she said when a reporter asked whether she planned to run for the seat. “Lots of Republicans have. There’s a lot of people to look at, but where I’m at right now is actually more than a full-time job.”

Ten people have announced campaigns for governor, nine of which are Republicans.

Rumors and excitement about upcoming elections have been brewing in Alaska.

At the annual Alaska Oil and Gas Association annual conference this week, there was a collective gasp and giggles when a moderator asked the governor if he would endorse someone in the crowded field of Republicans running to be the next governor.

“Who do you want to replace you as governor?”

“Somebody taller than me,” Dunleavy quipped.

He then danced around the question.

“Somebody that believes in Alaska like you do and like I do. You’ve got to be on a mission, right?” the governor said. “So you have to be on a mission to get these things done, because there’s all kinds of forces trying to throw you off the mission.

“There’s all kinds of stuff, whether it’s pundits, people that believe they know everything that can’t happen, that can’t work, naysayers. Alaska was a naysayer project. It was never supposed to happen. It was a waste of money, a waste of time. But time and time and time again, through force of will, and you see that with President Trump with regard to these executive orders and just the help we’re getting, good things are gonna happen.

“And so I would hope that whoever is the next governor has a mission to continue the good things that are happening for the state, continue to work with the Trump administration, because I’ll be gone, there’ll be two more years at least of President Trump, hopefully someone after him in a similar vein that wants to keep this going for the country.”

This is a developing story.

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