Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy is laying the groundwork for a 2028 U.S. Senate campaign that would pit him against fellow Republican Lisa Murkowski, according to multiple people familiar with his plans. The move has the encouragement of President Donald Trump, whose relationship with Murkowski has long been strained. Trump won Alaska by 13 percentage points in 2024, and Republican strategists say the governor’s alignment with the president could give him an edge among the state’s conservative voters when Murkowski’s seat next appears on the ballot. Even as speculation about the Senate race intensifies, Dunleavy is reshaping his administration. On Thursday he appointed Stephen J. Cox, a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas under the first Trump administration, as Alaska’s attorney general, effective Aug. 29. Cox, 48, also held senior posts at the U.S. Department of Justice and more recently oversaw legal strategy at Bristol Bay Industrial, an Alaska Native-owned energy venture. His nomination will be forwarded to the Alaska Legislature for confirmation in the 2026 session. Dunleavy has indicated he will serve out his current gubernatorial term while preparing for the Senate contest, avoiding the political pitfalls faced by earlier Alaska governors who resigned to pursue higher office. Murkowski, a centrist who has survived past challenges—including a successful 2010 write-in campaign—draws support from moderates and Native communities, while Dunleavy is expected to consolidate the state’s conservative bloc. The prospective matchup promises to test intraparty divisions as Republicans look to hold the seat in a state where energy policy and rural infrastructure remain dominant issues.