Murkowski holds $1 million campaign finance advantage over Tshibaka

The first campaign finance reports in the Alaska U.S. Senate race show Sen. Lisa Murkowski with a major cash advantage over challenger Kelly Tshibaka, who quit as commissioner of administration to become an official candidate March 29.

Tshibaka, who moved back to Alaska two years ago after spending all of her professional career in Washington, D.C., was talking about running against Murkowski more than a year ago.

Tshibaka’s financial disclosure form shows that she raised almost $215,000, but had $145,000 in debts as of the end of March. The report was filed three days after she quit her state job, but she likely unofficially lined up support in advance. This allowed her to show a small positive account balance on the finance report for a campaign that was officially only three days old, but had really started months ago, unofficially.

She entered the race one day after Sen. Dan Sullivan, who had been courted by Tshibaka for political support, announced that he would back Murkowski.

Tshibaka received more than $20,000 from members of her family and picked up $5,000 from former Dunleavy Chief of Staff Tuckerman Babcock. Bruce Tangeman, the former revenue commissioner, chipped in $250. Click here for the full report.

Murkowski’s report shows her to be in a much stronger financial position, though this is early. She raised $380,000 in the first three months of the year, which is not much for an incumbent at this stage.

Murkowski had about $1.3 million in cash on hand with no debts as of March 31. Click here for the full report.

Tshibaka predicts she will need between $20 million and $30 million for the campaign against Murkowski, while she expects the incumbent may raise $30 million, the Peninsula Clarion reported.