{"id":18975,"date":"2016-10-18T21:52:56","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T04:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/murkowski-presidential-campaign-causing-down-ballot-uncertainty\/"},"modified":"2016-10-18T21:52:56","modified_gmt":"2016-10-19T04:52:56","slug":"murkowski-presidential-campaign-causing-down-ballot-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/murkowski-presidential-campaign-causing-down-ballot-uncertainty\/","title":{"rendered":"Murkowski: Presidential campaign causing down-ballot uncertainty"},"content":{"rendered":"
JUNEAU<\/strong> \u2014 U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the presidential race is creating uncertainty for down-ballot races like hers that she hasn\u2019t experienced before.<\/p>\n The Alaska Republican said she\u2019s hearing from people fed up with the national race and is encouraging them to get out to vote anyway.<\/p>\n Both major party presidential candidates have been polarizing. And Murkowski said it will be important to have a Congress that can come together to work on issues, govern and act as a check and balance on the executive branch.<\/p>\n Murkowski lost her 2010 primary to Joe Miller but won an improbable general election write-in campaign to retain her seat. This year is different than any of her past races, though, because of the uncertainty injected by the presidential race, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy attention has not been on the presidential race. It is what it is,\u201d she told reporters Monday evening at her Juneau campaign office. \u201cIn my view, it\u2019s a race to the bottom right now.\u201d<\/p>\n She said she\u2019s focused, instead, on her campaign, traveling the state and meeting with Alaskans.<\/p>\n She has cast herself as a moderate, pragmatic voice and touted her seniority. Her critics, meanwhile, have sought to paint her as part of the problem in an ineffectual Congress.<\/p>\n Murkowski faces three main challengers in her race: Miller, who is running as a Libertarian; Democrat Ray Metcalfe and independent Margaret Stock.<\/p>\n Murkowski said she\u2019s not sure how she\u2019ll vote for president. She said she can support neither Democrat Hillary Clinton nor her party\u2019s nominee, Donald Trump, particularly after a 2005 video surfaced earlier this month in which Trump made lewd comments about women. That video prompted her and Alaska\u2019s junior senator, Republican Dan Sullivan, to call on Trump to get out of the race.<\/p>\n Miller has said he\u2019s supporting Trump over the Libertarian candidate for president, Gary Johnson, and Metcalfe said he will support Clinton, though unenthusiastically. Stock hasn\u2019t said how she\u2019ll vote but has spoken against Trump.<\/p>\n Murkowski said she had long had \u201cvery serious reservations\u201d about Trump but said she gave him a chance to convince her that he\u2019d earned her vote.<\/p>\n But she said he kept moving in the wrong direction and in the video \u201cbragged about, basically, sexual exploitation of women.\u201d<\/p>\n Murkowski said she does not want the leader of the country \u201csetting an example that is not one that holds the values that I think that we should have as a nation.\u201d<\/p>\n Karl Vandor, a retired project manager who attended Monday\u2019s meet-and-greet at her campaign office, said Murkowski\u2019s decision to speak out against Trump bothered him \u201cbecause there\u2019s only two choices. The other choice is very bad.\u201d<\/p>\n Vandor, a Republican, is backing Trump, who he sees as pro-development and as someone who can get things done.<\/p>\n But he said he\u2019s also supporting Murkowski, calling her down to earth and up on the issues.<\/p>\n Bob Janes of Juneau said he\u2019s an independent and was glad that Murkowski spoke out against Trump \u2014 \u201cfinally.\u201d Despite how ugly the presidential race has gotten, he said he\u2019s excited to vote.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that sensible people have an obligation to get out and keep our country functioning in a sensible way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JUNEAU \u2014 U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the presidential race is creating uncertainty for down-ballot races like hers that she hasn\u2019t experienced before. The Alaska Republican said she\u2019s hearing from people fed up with the national race and is encouraging them to get out to vote anyway. Both major party presidential candidates have been polarizing. 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