Alaska gubernatorial election, 2002

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Alaska gubernatorial election, 2002

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  Frank Murkowski, 105th Congress photo.jpg Fran Ulmer cropped.jpg
Nominee Frank Murkowski Fran Ulmer
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote129,279 94,216
Percentage55.8% 40.7%
Governor before election

Tony Knowles
Democratic

Elected Governor

Frank Murkowski
Republican

The 2002 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002 for the post of Governor of Alaska. Republican U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski defeated Democratic Lieutenant Governor Fran Ulmer. Murkowski became the first Republican elected governor of Alaska since Jay Hammond in 1978.

Republican Party (United States) political party in the United States

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

United States Senate Upper house of the United States Congress

The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, which along with the United States House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the legislature of the United States. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol, in Washington, D.C.

Frank Murkowski Republican governor of and U.S. Senator from Alaska

Frank Hughes Murkowski is an American retired politician and a member of the Republican Party. He was a United States senator from Alaska from 1981 until 2002 and the eighth governor of Alaska from 2002 until 2006.

Contents

Primaries

Incumbent Democratic Governor Tony Knowles was term limited from running again. Lieutenant Governor Fran Ulmer easily won the Democratic primary on August 27 against outsiders Michael Beasley and Bruce Lemke, neither of whom did much campaigning. Meanwhile, Senator Frank Murkowski also gained an easy win in the Republican primary. [1] [2] [3]

The incumbent is the current holder of an office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent(s). For example, in the Hungarian presidential election, 2017, János Áder was the incumbent, because he had been the president in the term before the term for which the election sought to determine the president. A race without an incumbent is referred to as an open seat.

Tony Knowles (politician) American politician and restaurateur

Anthony Carroll Knowles is an American politician and businessman who served as the seventh governor of Alaska from December 1994 to December 2002. Barred from seeking a third consecutive term as governor in 2002, he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and again for governor in 2006. In September 2008, Knowles became president of the National Energy Policy Institute, a non-profit energy policy organization funded by billionaire George Kaiser's family foundation, and located at the University of Tulsa.

A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for life". This is intended to protect a democracy from becoming a de facto dictatorship. Sometimes, there is an absolute or lifetime limit on the number of terms an officeholder may serve; sometimes, the restrictions are merely on the number of consecutive terms he or she may serve.

Campaign

Murkowski started the campaign as the clear favorite as Ulmer, despite being lieutenant governor, had a lot less name recognition. [4] Polls initially showed Ulmer about 20 percent behind Murkowski but as the campaign continued Ulmer closed on Murkowski in the polls by concentrating on local issues such as the state budget and by portraying herself as a moderate. [4] [5] By October polls showed the candidates about level with one poll on October 17 showing Ulmer at 46% and Murkowski at 43%. [6]

In politics, name recognition is the ability a voter has to identify a candidate's name due to a certain amount of previous exposure through various campaigning methods. It can be described as the awareness voters have about specific candidates resulting from various forms of campaign advertising. Some of the advertising methods used by candidates running for various offices are creating posters, making yard signs, bumper stickers and attempting to get media exposure, are a few examples of how they achieve this. Though candidates can achieve high name recognition and exposure, this does not necessarily mean that the average voter has a good understanding of their ideologies, positions and stances on political issues.

The biggest issue in the campaign was the economy and what to do about the projected budget shortfall in Alaska. [4] The issue dominated the October debates between the two candidates in Fairbanks and Anchorage. [7] Ulmer argued that the state should consider introducing a statewide tax for the first time since 1980 if the budget reserve fell too far and that state spending should be capped. [7] However Murkowski opposed any new taxes and called his opponent pro-tax. He said that new oil prospects, high oil prices and revenues from other resources could close the gap in the budget. [8]

Alaska State of the United States of America

Alaska is a U.S. state in the northwest extremity of North America, just across the Bering Strait from Asia. The Canadian province of British Columbia and territory of Yukon border the state to the east, its most extreme western part is Attu Island, and it has a maritime border with Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas—southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. It is the largest state in the United States by area and the seventh largest subnational division in the world. In addition, it is the 3rd least populous and the most sparsely populated of the 50 United States; nevertheless, it is by far the most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel in North America: its population—estimated at 738,432 by the United States Census Bureau in 2015— is more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, and oil industries, resources which it has in abundance. Military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy.

Debate argument with formal rules, is usually used to prepare a substantive vote

Debate is a process that involves formal discussion on a particular topic. In a debate, opposing arguments are put forward to argue for opposing viewpoints. Debate occurs in public meetings, academic institutions, and legislative assemblies. It is a formal type of discussion, often with a moderator and an audience, in addition to the debate participants.

Fairbanks, Alaska City in Alaska, United States

Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.

President George Bush made an advertisement supporting Murkowski, who also received support from Republicans Gale Norton, Ted Stevens and Don Young. [9] Ulmer received support from former Republican Governor Jay Hammond, Governor Tony Knowles and called on voters to support her so that Murkowski could stay working as Senator for Alaska in Congress. [10] During the campaign Murkowski refused to say who he would appoint to serve his remaining two years as U.S. senator but after the election appointed his daughter Lisa Murkowski, majority leader in the Alaska House of Representatives, to fill the seat. [11] [12]

George W. Bush 43rd president of the United States

George Walker Bush is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He had previously served as the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.

Gale Norton United States Secretaries of the Interior

Gale Ann Norton served as the 48th United States Secretary of the Interior from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. She was the first woman to hold the position. Previously, Norton had served as Colorado's Attorney General.

Ted Stevens Republican U.S. Senator from Alaska; President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate

Theodore Fulton Stevens Sr. was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1968 to 2009. He was the longest-serving Republican U.S. Senator in history at the time he left office; his record was surpassed in January 2017 by Orrin Hatch from Utah. He was President pro tempore of the United States Senate in the 108th and 109th Congresses from January 3, 2003 to January 3, 2007 and was the third U.S. Senator to hold the title of President pro tempore emeritus.

Election results

U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski won the election with 55.85% of the vote, the highest percentage for any Alaska gubernatorial candidate up to that time.

2002 gubernatorial election, Alaska [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Republican Frank Murkowski 129,279 55.85 +38.0
Democratic Fran Ulmer 94,216 40.70 -10.6
Green Diane E. Benson 2,926 1.26 -1.7
Alaskan Independence Don Wright 2,185 0.94 +0.9
Republican Moderate Raymond VinZant 1,506 0.65 -5.5
Libertarian Billy Toien 1,109 0.48 +0.5
Write-ins 263 0.11 -19.7
Majority 35,063 15.2 -17.8
Turnout 231,484 50.5 +1.9
Republican gain from Democratic Swing -48.2

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References

  1. ↑ "Largent wins GOP nod for Oklahoma governor". USA Today . 2002-08-27. Archived from the original on 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  2. ↑ "Alaska candidate wants to pack her heat". seattlepi.com. 2002-07-24. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  3. ↑ "Democrats for governor: Ulmer, Lemke and Beasley". AlaskaLegislature.com. 2002-08-12. Archived from the original on 2006-04-08. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  4. 1 2 3 "Alaska governor's race surprisingly close". CNN. 2002-10-22. Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  5. ↑ "Ulmer chases odds to be first woman governor". Kenai Peninsula Online. 2002-10-21. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  6. ↑ "Poll shows Ulmer closed gap with Murkowski". Kenai Peninsula Online. 2002-10-17. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  7. 1 2 "Murkowski and Ulmer face off in two debates in Fairbanks". Kenai Peninsula Online. 2002-10-23. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  8. ↑ "Fiscal gap dominates Anchorage debate". Kenai Peninsula Online. 2002-10-24. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  9. ↑ Lawrence, Jill (2002-11-07). "Career politician to head home state". USA Today . Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  10. ↑ "Post Time in the Gubernatorial Stakes". BusinessWeek . 2002-11-01. Archived from the original on 2005-09-21. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  11. ↑ "Stevens stumps for Murkowski in Fairbanks". Kenai Peninsula Online. 2002-10-22. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  12. ↑ "Gov. Murkowski appoints daughter to fill Senate seat". Kenai Peninsula Online. 2002-12-20. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  13. ↑ "STATE OF ALASKA GENERAL ELECTION – NOVEMBER 5, 2002 OFFICIAL RESULTS". State of Alaska Division of Elections. Archived from the original on 2008-07-17. Retrieved 2008-07-19.

See also

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