The day has finally come: On Tuesday, GOP lawmakers Rep. Liz Cheney and Sen. Lisa Murkowski — both congressional targets of former President Donald Trump — will face the political music as voters in their respective states of Wyoming and Alaska head to the polls.
Cheney, who has been all but excommunicated from her party over her criticism of Trump and her work on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, is widely expected to lose her seat following a challenge from Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman.
And in Alaska, the more-moderate Lisa Murkowski, who The New York Times notes "was one of seven Republicans to vote to convict [Trump] of incitement of insurrection," will attempt to fend off former state official Kelly Tshibaka, who, like Hageman, boasts backing from the former president.
But that's not the state's only marquee race — former Gov. Sarah Palin (R) is also trying for a political comeback, this time "in the open race for the state's sole seat in Congress, last held by Don Young, who died in March," the Times writes. Palin is angling to win a special election runoff to finish out the remainder of Young's term, as well as a primary to serve a full two-year cycle of her own.
Notably, due to a recent change in state election law, both Palin and Murkowski need only be among the top four finishers in their respective primaries to advance to the general election in November, adds The Associated Press.