U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) left the door open to possibly caucusing with the Democratic Party in a recent interview.
Podcast host Galen Druke asked Murkowski in a new interview whether she would consider caucusing with the Democrats if the Democratic Party picked up three seats in the midterm elections. He asked her if she would consider it if the Democrats vowed to pass legislation that would benefit Alaskans.
Murkowski emphasized that she disagreed with a number of Democrat policies, but did not rule out working with the opposing party to pass legislation to benefit her constituents.
“There may be that possibility,” Murkowski said.
She appeared open to working with a “coalition” to help Alaskans, but explained that is not something Washington, D.C. is used to doing. She attempted to dodge the question before Druke pressed her further on whether she was open to working with Democrats.
“If we’re talking about some kind of a coalition, that’s something that, again, is not foreign to Alaskans. Is it foreign to our operations in the Senate? Yeah, it’s not foreign in other governing bodies...So I’m evading your answer, of course, because it is so supremely hypothetical,” she said.
“Was that a yes? That ‘yes, there’s like, there’s some openness to it,’” Druke asked again.
“There is some openness to exploring something different than a status quo,” Murkowski responded.
Murkowski has been critical of her own party and at times, President Donald Trump. She has said that Trump’s second term had been “head spinning” and has raised concerns about retaliation from Trump’s MAGA. She was also one of three Republicans who voted against confirming now-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for the role.
Murkowski has been in the Senate representing Alaska since 2002 and is one of the most moderate Republicans serving in the upper chamber. She has been on a media blitz in recent days to promote her upcoming memoir, “Far from Home: An Alaskan Senator Faces the Extreme Climate of Washington, D.C.”
Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate, while 47 lawmakers caucus with the Democrats. Twenty Senate Republicans are up for reelection in 2026, including U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) who represents a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024.
Stories by Lauren Sforza
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