Murkowski’s criticism is harsher now, and more insistent. Having defeated a Palin-backed candidate in their shared home state, Murkowski has little to fear from the former governor. And if Palin decides to run for president, it seems likely that she’ll have to contend with the critique of a particularly potent character witness — another Republican woman from Alaska.

“Certainly in Alaska, the visibility that she got off this, the stature that she gained from mounting and winning this write-in campaign — it’s incalculable,” said Larry Persily, a former journalist who has served in the administrations of multiple Alaska governors.

Persily, who’s now the federal coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects, said Murkowski seems “emboldened” by her own experience going rogue.