Murkowski Losing Clout In GOP After Announcing Write-In Candidacy

After having lost to Tea Party-backed Joe Miller in Alaska’s GOP Senate primary, Lisa Murkowski’s decision to run in November as a write-in candidate is taking its toll on her current status on Capitol Hill. 

CNN is reporting that Senate Republicans plan to relieve Murkowski as ranking member of the Senate Energy Committee. Members of the GOP are said to vote soon on an acting ranking member for the committee who will then be ratified by a GOP conference vote. 

The ousting comes on the heels of Murkowski’s recent resignation from her post as vice chair of the Senate GOP conference all seemingly rooted at her write-in bid for Alaska’s Senate race against Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) defended Murkowski’s removal saying it was “the appropriate thing to do.” 

“When you chose not to accept the judgment of the primary voters and run as a write-in, it has its consequences,” Cornyn said.

Murkowski recently released her first television ad where she justified her write-in candidacy saying Alaskans “can not accept the extreme views of Joe Miller nor the inexperience of Scott McAdams, they want a choice.”

A recent Rasmussen poll has Miller leading the pack, holding 42% of the vote. Murkowski and McAdams trail the Palin-backed candidate by double-digit margins, holding 27% and 25% of the vote, respectively.