Sen. Lisa Murkowski touted her NRA endorsement in a recent campaign mailing, without noting that she received the endorsement during the Republican primary. The NRA has not endorsed any candidate in the general election.
The mailing, which features a letter written by late Alaskan senator Ted Stevens before his death in August, says “Lisa is the NRA endorsed candidate and is a strong supporter of our 2nd Amendment.”
“This is yet another example of Lisa saying anything and everything in her desperate attempts to keep the Senate seat her father gave her,” Republican senate candidate Joe Miller said in a statement. “She had a ‘D’ rating in the state house and voted in favor of Eric Holder’s nomination for U.S. Attorney General. There is only one candidate running for Senate that is a true supporter of the 2nd Amendment and I am that candidate.”
The Murkowski campaign defended the claim. “When the NRA compared Lisa Murkowski’s record on the second amendment head-to-head with Joe’s during the Primary election, they endorsed Senator Murkowski. Joe clearly hasn’t been able to get over that,” said Murkowski spokesman Steve Wackowski in a statement. “Joe really has no grounds to accuse Senator Murkowski of being less than truthful. This is coming from a man who less than two years ago was suspended from his job as a lawyer for the people of Fairbanks for fifteen days because of lying, covering up and lying again.”
Earlier this week Politico reported that Murkowski had sent out a mailing entitled “Alaskan Democrats Who Are Voting for Lisa Murkowski – and not Scott McAdams,” and featuring quotes lauding Murkowski from prominent Democrats such as Sen. Patty Murray (D – WA) and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Ethan Berkowitz. Both Murray and Berkowitz have endorsed Democrat senate candidate Scott McAdams.
Murkowski apologized, and a spokesman said the campaign intended to headline the mailer, “What Alaskan Democrats are saying about Lisa.”