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Kelly Tshibaka
Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration
In office
2019–2021
GovernorMike Dunleavy
Preceded byJohn Quick
Succeeded byPaula Vrana
Inspector General of the Federal Trade Commission
Acting
In office
June 1, 2014 – March 29, 2015
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byScott Wilson
Succeeded byRoslyn Mazer
Personal details
Born
Kelly Chaundel Hartline

(1979-09-05) September 5, 1979 (age 44)
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Niki Tshibaka
​
(m. 2001)​
EducationUniversity of Alaska Anchorage
Texas A&M University (BA)
Harvard University (JD)[1]
WebsiteTshibaka's home page

Kelly Chaundel Tshibaka (b. September 5, 1979; last name pronounced like Chewbacca[2][3][4]) is an American attorney and politician who served as the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration from 2019 until 2021. She is a Republican candidate for the 2022 United States Senate election in Alaska.[5]

Early life and education

Tshibaka was born in Alaska to a union electrician father and a mother who worked at Alaska’s largest oil field.[6] She was raised in Wasilla and Anchorage, graduating in 1995 from Steller Secondary School in Anchorage. In 1999 she graduated from Texas A&M University.[7]

Tshibaka earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 2002. In 2001, while at Harvard, she wrote an article for the Harvard Law Record saying that "Unlike race or gender, homosexuality is a choice", but later apologized, said she had been assigned the article as a counterpoint piece, and added that “I don’t hold that view today".[8]

In spite of claims on her biography that she was the first in her family to graduate from college, at least one relative had attained a college degree: her maternal grandfather.[9]

Career

From 2002 to 2005, Tshibaka served as a special assistant in the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. She then joined the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, serving as advisor to the inspector general of the intelligence community and senior advisor in the Civil Liberties and Privacy Office. A controversy arose as to whether or not she had improperly recorded about 600 working hours for which she was paid $36,000 but the matter was apparently closed in 2011 without any disciplinary action against her, and she says the accusation was retaliation for work she had done.[9]

Tshibaka joined the Federal Trade Commission in 2013, serving as chief investigator and senior advisor to the inspector general until 2015 and as acting inspector general from 2014 to 2015. From 2015 to 2019, she served as assistant inspector general and chief data officer in the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General.[10]

In 2019, Alaska Governor Michael Dunleavy hired Tshibaka as a senior policy advisor, and the state paid her over $80,000 for the cost of moving her family from Washington D.C.[11] Dunleavy then appointed Tshibaka commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration in January of 2019, after his first nominee to that position withdrew.[12][11] She served in that position until stepping down in March of 2021 to run for U.S. Senate.[5]

2022 campaign for U.S. Senate

Main article: 2022 United States Senate election in Alaska

In Alaska's election for U.S. Senator, all candidates regardless of their political parties ran in a single Alaska primary in 2022, because of Alaska's new system of ranked choice voting. The top four candidates advanced to the general election, with Murkowski and Tshibaka in the lead.[13] The Alaska Republican Party has endorsed Tshibaka,[14] and one of the top four candidates (Buzz Kelley) withdrew and endorsed Tshibaka,[15] leaving the following three candidates: Murkowski, Tshibaka, and Pat Chesbro (Buzz Kelley remained on the ballot even though he withdrew). As of September 2022, Tshibaka and Murkowski were virtually tied in an AARP poll.[16] According to a USA Today article about Tshibaka:[17]

She is running because "it was the people of Alaska who stood up for me and gave me opportunities in life, and now I want to stand up for the people of Alaska," her campaign website reads. Tshibaka's site describes her as anti-abortion and pro-Second Amendment.

In August 2022, Tshibaka participated in a series of questions and answers with the Anchorage Daily News.[18] Among other things, she said: "I will work to protect our jobs, build affordable housing, cut federal spending and taxes, and block those trying to shut down our resource industries....I will support nominees who advocate for parents' rights to be involved in their children’s education, respect our 2nd Amendment and other constitutional rights, and recognize our rights to develop our land in ways that are environmentally responsible."[18] She recognizes Joe Biden as president, and says that people who broke the law on January 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol "should be held responsible", but also believes that "legitimate questions about the 2020 election....deserve answers".[18]

In addition to her candidacy being endorsed by Buzz Kelley and the Republican Party of Alaska, she has also been endorsed by ex-President Donald Trump.[19] Former Trump administration officials Bill Stepien, Justin R. Clark, and Tim Murtaugh have worked on Tshibaka's U.S. Senate campaign.[20][21] Meanwhile, a super PAC associated with Kentucky’s Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, has spent $5.5 million running attack ads against Tshibaka.[22]

Tshibaka has sought to portray Murkowski as a liberal and “functionally a Democrat”,[22] in view of her vote in 2017 to preserve the Affordable Care Act, her decision not to support confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, and her support of various Biden nominees such as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in 2021. Tshibaka concludes: “we don’t feel like these votes and decisions represent us.”[23][24]

Personal

Tshibakas met her husband, Niki, while she was in law school. The couple have five children.<ref name="campaign bio">[17]

The Tshibakas founded a congregation in 2006, associated with the Foursquare Church, which is an evangelical Pentecostal denomination.[9] She is a member of the National Rifle Association and Safari Club International.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b “State of Alaska, Official Election Pamphlet: November 8, 2022”. Retrieved 24 Oct 2022.
  2. ^ O’Hara, Ashlyn. “Senate hopeful Tshibaka makes rounds on Kenai Peninsula”, Juneau Empire (12 Apr 2021).
  3. ^ Thomas, Maisie. ”Kelly Tshibaka headlines Alaska Interior Republicans lunch”, Daily News-Miner (22 May 2021).
  4. ^ Strassel, Kimberley. “Alaska’s Senate Race Nail-Biter”, Wall Street Journal (6 Oct 2022).
  5. ^ a b Cordova, Gilbert. "Head of the Alaska Department of Administration resigns, seeks run for Murkowski’s US Senate seat", KTUU-TV (29 Mar 2021).
  6. ^ "About Kelly", kellyforak.com/about
  7. ^ Raju, Manu and Rogers, Alex. "Pro-Trump challenger’s residency issues catch Murkowski’s eye", CNN (4 Oct 2021).
  8. ^ Thiessen, Mark. "Alaska candidate shadowed by anti-gay article, election post", Associated Press (April 27, 2021).
  9. ^ a b c Samuels, Iris and Lester, Marc. “The making of a U.S. Senate candidate: Kelly Tshibaka”, Anchorage Daily News (18 Oct 2022).
  10. ^ Leary, Declan (April 27, 2021). "An Anti-Establishment Candidate in Alaska?". The American Conservative. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Boots, Michelle. “U.S. Senate candidate’s $81,000 state-paid moving bill won’t have to be paid back”, Anchorage Daily News (21 Apr 2022).
  12. ^ "Gov. Dunleavy appoints Kelly Tshibaka to lead Dept. of Administration", KINY (31 Jan 2019).
  13. ^ Cochrane, Emily. "Lisa Murkowski and Kelly Tshibaka Advance in Alaska’s Senate Contest", The New York Times (August 17, 2022).
  14. ^ "Alaska Republican Party endorses Kelly Tshibaka in the 2022 race for the US Senate seat held by Murkowski", KTUU-TV (11 Jul 2021).
  15. ^ "Alaska Senate candidate drops out of race". The Hill. September 13, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  16. ^ Marquez, Alexandra. "Tshibaka, Murkowski virtually tied in new Alaska statewide poll", NBC News (15 Sep 2022).
  17. ^ a b Nzanga, Merdie. "What to know about Kelly Tshibaka, who is trying to unseat Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski", USA Today (16 Aug 2022).
  18. ^ a b c "CANDIDATE Q&A: U.S. Senate — Kelly Tshibaka", Alaska Public Media (10 Aug 2022).
  19. ^ "Trump gives ‘Complete and Total’ endorsement to Tshibaka in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race", Anchorage Daily News (18 Jun 2021).
  20. ^ Isenstadt, Alex (March 29, 2021). "Trump alums sign up with new Murkowski opponent". Politico. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  21. ^ Karni, Annie. “Trump endorses Kelly Tshibaka, Murkowski's challenger in Alaska's Senate race”, The New York Times (18 Jun 2021).
  22. ^ a b Caldwell, Leigh Ann. ““Murkowski, Peltola cross party lines to endorse each other in tight Alaska races”, Washington Post via MSN (24 Oct 2022).
  23. ^ Cochrane, Emily. “Shunned by the Right, Murkowski Bets Big on the Center in Alaska”, New York Times (28 Apr 2022).
  24. ^ Thiessen, Mark. “Trump-backed Alaska hopeful officially files for Senate run”, Associated Press (April 11, 2022).
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