Frank Murkowski

Last updated

Nancy Gore
​
(m. 1954)​
Frank Murkowski
Frank Murkowski (R-AK) (tight crop).jpg
Murkowski in 1992
8th Governor of Alaska
In office
December 2, 2002 –December 4, 2006
Children6, including Lisa
Education Seattle University (BS)
Military service
AllegianceFlag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States
Branch/serviceFlag of the United States Coast Guard.svg  United States Coast Guard
Years of service1955–1957
Frank Murkowski's voice
Murkowski, as a U.S. senator, speaks on legislation to reform mining laws
Recorded March 8, 1995

Frank Hughes Murkowski (born March 28, 1933) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator representing Alaska from 1981 to 2002 and as the eighth governor of Alaska from 2002 to 2006.

Contents

Murkowski was the Republican nominee for Alaska's sole congressional district in 1970, but lost to his Democratic opponent Nick Begich. In 1980, he was elected to the United States Senate, and was reelected in 1986, 1992, and 1998.

Murkowski ran for governor of Alaska in 2002 to replace Democratic incumbent Tony Knowles. He defeated Lieutenant Governor Fran Ulmer in the general election and took office on December 2, 2002. Murkowski resigned his U.S. Senate seat before taking office and appointed his daughter, Lisa Murkowski, to replace him. In his 2006 re-election bid, he finished in third place in the Republican primary behind Sarah Palin and John Binkley.

Early life and education

Murkowski was born in Seattle, Washington, the son of Helen (née Hughes) and Frank M. Murkowski. [1] His paternal grandfather was of Polish descent. [2] Murkowski attended Ketchikan High School in Alaska, graduating in 1951. He studied at Santa Clara University from 1951 to 1953, and earned a BS in economics from Seattle University in 1955. He joined the United States Coast Guard in the summer of 1955 and served until 1957 – the year his daughter Lisa was born. He was stationed in Sitka and Ketchikan, Alaska, and aboard the cutters Sorrel and Thistle. Another daughter, Carol, is married to the son of State Sen. Arliss Sturgulewski, a former gubernatorial nominee. [3]

Career

After a stint at Pacific National Bank and further study at Pacific Coast Banking School, Murkowski became Alaska's youngest commissioner at the time when he was appointed Commissioner of Economic Development, aged 33, and was elevated to the presidency of the Alaska National Bank of the North in 1971. He has also headed the Alaska Bankers Association and – in 1977 - [4] the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce. [5]

He ran for Alaska's sole U.S. House seat in 1970, but was defeated in a landslide by Democratic state Senator Nick Begich. [6]

U.S. Senate

Murkowski with President Ronald Reagan in 1986 President Ronald Reagan, in the Oval Office, shaking hands with Republican senator Frank Murkowski of Alaska (cropped).jpg
Murkowski with President Ronald Reagan in 1986
Murkowski and his wife stand behind Vice President Dan Quayle and Marilyn Quayle as they express their appreciation to airmen who served in the Persian Gulf area during Operation Desert Storm on May 18, 1991 Vice President J. Danforth Quayle and Marilyn Quayle wave to the crowd upon their arrival on base.jpg
Murkowski and his wife stand behind Vice President Dan Quayle and Marilyn Quayle as they express their appreciation to airmen who served in the Persian Gulf area during Operation Desert Storm on May 18, 1991
Murkowski with Rick Santorum, Larry Craig, and Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2001 Republican Senators urge Tom Daschle to set a date for debate to establish a comprehensive energy plan for American families.jpg
Murkowski with Rick Santorum, Larry Craig, and Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2001

He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980, defeating Democratic candidate Clark Gruening, with the help of Ronald Reagan's popularity. He won with 54% of the vote. [6] He was re-elected in 1986, 1992, and 1998. During his time in the Senate, he was most notable as Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee from 1995 to 2001. As chair, he argued and attempted unsuccessfully to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Murkowski had an anti-abortion record in the Senate. [7] He also opposed gun control and affirmative action. [7]

In a floor statement in the Senate, regarding the ban of homosexuals serving in the military, Murkowski stated that homosexuals have a right to choose their lifestyle, but there exists no right to serve. In his opposition to lifting the ban, his speech focused on the cost effect on the Veterans Administration in treating service members infected with HIV. [8] His daughter and successor in the Senate, Lisa Murkowski, voted to repeal the ban on homosexuals in the armed services, and later became the third Republican Senator to endorse the legalization of same-sex marriage while in office. [9]

Governor

Murkowski, Senator Ted Stevens, Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, State Senator Gary Wilken, and former State Senator John Binkley cut the ribbon dedicating a memorial to the Alaska-Siberia Lend Lease program in Fairbanks, Alaska on August 26, 2006 Defense.gov photo essay 060827-F-0193C-031.jpg
Murkowski, Senator Ted Stevens, Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, State Senator Gary Wilken, and former State Senator John Binkley cut the ribbon dedicating a memorial to the Alaska-Siberia Lend Lease program in Fairbanks, Alaska on August 26, 2006
Murkowski with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in 2011 Secretary Ken Salazar with former Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski, at Interior headquarters, Washington, D.C.jpg
Murkowski with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in 2011

Murkowski was elected governor on November 5, 2002, receiving nearly 56% of the vote, the highest percentage for any Republican gubernatorial nominee in Alaska history up until that point. [10] He succeeded Democrat Tony Knowles and took office on December 2, 2002.

Upon his inauguration, he resigned his Senate seat and appointed his daughter, Lisa Murkowski, the Majority Leader-designate of the Alaska House of Representatives, in his place. The appointment was widely criticized as an act of nepotism.

Toward the end of his administration he brokered a deal for a gas pipeline that was never considered, in final form, by the legislature. Murkowski threatened to sign the deal without legislative approval, but the legislature successfully brought a lawsuit to enjoin him from doing so.

Governor Murkowski ran for re-election in 2006, but came in third behind former Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin and businessman John Binkley in the Republican primary election on August 22, 2006 (Palin winning with 51% and Binkley taking second with 30% to Murkowski's 19%). Murkowski's margin of defeat was the largest in any Republican primary by an incumbent governor in United States history. [11] Murkowski left office with one of the nation's worst approval ratings of 19%. [12] [13]

On March 4, 2008, Murkowski's former chief-of-staff, Jim Clark admitted that he was aware that Veco Corp had paid $10,000 for a political poll to gauge the popularity of then-incumbent Governor Murkowski. Clark was charged with "honest services fraud". Before he was sentenced, the US Supreme Court ruled that the statute was drafted with unconstitutional vagueness and henceforth will only cover "fraudulent schemes to deprive another of honest services through bribes or kickbacks supplied by a third party who ha[s] not been deceived." Since Clark was guilty of neither bribes nor kickbacks, all charges were voided.

In all 27 years of public service, Murkowski spent two years in the armed services, 21 years as Alaska's junior senator in D.C. and four years as governor.

Murkowski considered attempting a return to the governorship in the 2018 election, but ultimately decided against it. [14]

Jet plane scandal

In 2005, despite opposition from the Alaska Legislature, Murkowski purchased a Westwind II jet with state money for $2.7 million. [15] This purchase became the symbol of his unpopular legacy in state politics, so much so that his successor, Sarah Palin, promised to sell the jet once she became governor. [16]

Electoral history

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Murkowski</span> American lawyer and politician (born 1957)

Lisa Ann Murkowski is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Alaska, having held the seat since 2002. She is the first woman to represent Alaska in the Senate and is the Senate's second-most senior Republican woman. Murkowski became dean of Alaska's congressional delegation upon Representative Don Young's death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Alaska gubernatorial election</span>

The 2006 Alaska gubernatorial general election took place on November 7, 2006. The former mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin, defeated incumbent governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary, and then went on to defeat former governor Tony Knowles in the general election. Palin became the first governor of the state to be born after Alaskan statehood.

In U.S. politics, a primary challenge is when an incumbent holding elective office is challenged by a member of their own political party in a primary election. Such events, known informally as "being primaried," are noteworthy and not frequent in the United States, as traditionally political parties support incumbents, both for party unity and to minimize the possibility of losing the seat to an opposing party. In addition, officeholders are frequently seen as de facto leaders of their party, eligible to establish policy and administer affairs as they see fit. A primary challenge thus interferes with this "spoil of office," and is largely discouraged. Though typically used to describe challenges to elected officials, the term is also applied to officeholders such as appointed U.S. senators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Binkley</span> American politician

John Emerson "Johne" Binkley is a riverboat pilot, businessman and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. Binkley served for one term apiece in the Alaska House of Representatives and the Alaska Senate during the mid and late 1980s, but is perhaps better known for his candidacy for governor of Alaska in the 2006 primary election. In that election, he finished far behind Sarah Palin, but also far ahead of one-term incumbent governor Frank Murkowski, by then deeply unpopular amongst Alaskans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alaska Democratic Party</span> Political party in Alaska

The Alaska Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in Alaska, headquartered in Anchorage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clark Gruening</span> American attorney and politician

Clark S. Gruening is an attorney and Democratic Party politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. He is chiefly known as the second of three persons to defeat the incumbent holder of Alaska's Class 3 United States Senate seat in the primary election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1980 United States Senate election in Alaska</span>

The 1980 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 4, 1980. Incumbent Democratic United States Senator Mike Gravel ran for a third term in the United States Senate, but lost in the Democratic primary to Clark Gruening, a former state representative who was the grandson of Ernest Gruening, whom Gravel had defeated twelve years prior in an election for the same seat. Gruening later went on to lose the general election to Republican nominee Frank Murkowski, a banker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Alaska gubernatorial election</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 United States Senate election in Alaska</span>

The 2002 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican United States Senator Ted Stevens ran for and won a seventh term in the United States Senate. He faced perennial candidate Frank Vondersaar, the Democratic nominee, journalist Jim Sykes, the Green Party nominee, and several other independent candidates in his bid for re-election. Ultimately, Stevens defeated his opponents by an overwhelming margin to win what would be his last term in the Senate, the highest percentage of the vote of any of his elections. This would be the last Senate election in the state until 2020 in which the winning candidate received a majority of the vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 United States Senate election in Alaska</span>

The 2004 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 2, 2004, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives, various state and local elections, and the presidential election of that year. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Anchorage, sought election to her first full term after being appointed by her father Frank Murkowski to serve out the rest of the latter's unexpired term when he resigned in December 2002 to become Governor of Alaska. Her main challenger was Democratic former governor Tony Knowles, her father's predecessor as governor. Murkowski won by a slight margin. As of 2022, Lisa Murkowski’s vote total of 149,773 votes remains the most raw votes she has ever received during any of her runs for the US Senate. This victory made Lisa Murkowski the first woman ever elected in the Congress from the state of Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 United States Senate election in Alaska</span>

The 2010 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski was re-elected as a write-in candidate despite having been defeated in the Republican primary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Dahlstrom</span> American politician (born 1957)

Nancy Dahlstrom is an American politician who has served as the 15th lieutenant governor of Alaska since December 2022. She previously served as a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 18th and 13th districts. She was appointed to the House at the beginning of the legislative session in 2003 when the representative-elect, Lisa Murkowski, was appointed to the United States Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 United States Senate election in Alaska</span>

The 2014 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Alaska, concurrently with the election of the governor of Alaska, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 United States Senate election in Alaska</span>

The 2016 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Alaska, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Alaska gubernatorial election</span>

The 2018 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Alaska. In the primaries for recognized political parties, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately. The winners of each respective primary for governor and lieutenant governor then become a joint ticket in the general election for their political party. Incumbent Independent governor Bill Walker was seeking re-election in what was originally a three-way race between Walker, Republican former Alaska state senator Mike Dunleavy, and Democratic former Alaska U.S. Senator Mark Begich. Despite Walker dropping out on October 19, 2018, and endorsing Begich, Dunleavy won in what was the only gubernatorial gain by a Republican candidate in 2018. As of 2024, this was the last time the Governor's office in Alaska changed partisan control. Walker later unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Alaska in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 United States Senate election in Alaska</span>

The 2022 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 8, 2022. Incumbent Republican senator Lisa Murkowski won reelection to a fourth full term, defeating fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka and Democrat Patricia Chesbro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Alaska gubernatorial election</span>

The 2022 Alaska gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Alaska. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Dunleavy won re-election to a second term, becoming the first Republican governor to be re-elected to a second term since Jay Hammond in 1978 and the first governor, regardless of political affiliation, to be re-elected to a second term since Tony Knowles in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska</span>

The November 2022 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska was held on Tuesday, November 8, to elect a member of the United States House of Representatives to represent the state of Alaska. Democratic incumbent Mary Peltola won re-election to a full term in office, defeating Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III and Libertarian Chris Bye in the runoff count.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Alaska elections</span>

The 2022 Alaska state elections took place on November 8, 2022. The state also held Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA) elections on the first Tuesday in October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 Alaska Republican presidential primary</span>

The 2024 Alaska Republican presidential primary was held on March 5, 2024, as part of the Republican Party primaries for the 2024 presidential election. 29 delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention were allocated on a proportional basis. The contest was held on Super Tuesday alongside primaries in 14 other states.

References

  1. ↑ Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "TPG: Murkowski". The Political Graveyard . Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Frank Murkowski". www.orbikfamily.com.
  3. ↑ https://www.hcn.org/issues/47-17/the-rise-of-lisa-murkowski/
  4. ↑ "Murkowski, Frank Hughes". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress . Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Sen. Frank Murkowski". CBS. September 8, 1998. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Sen. Frank Murkowski". CBS News . September 8, 1998.
  7. 1 2 Seelye, Katharine (December 21, 2002). "New Alaska Governor Gives Daughter His Seat in Senate". The New York Times . Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Congressional Record 103rd Congress (1993-1994) FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 (Senate – February 4, 1993)". THOMAS. Library of Congress. Retrieved June 12, 2011.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ "Senate Vote 281 – Repeals 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'". The New York Times. December 18, 2010. Archived from the original on October 27, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2011.
  10. ↑ Fellow Republican Sean Parnell won around 59% in 2010.
  11. ↑ State of Alaska Division of Elections: "2006 Primary Election Results." Archived September 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved March 16, 2007.
  12. ↑ "AK Gov". SurveyUSA. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
  13. ↑ Skelley, Geoffrey (August 9, 2018). "A Failure to Launch? Kansas' Republican Gubernatorial Contest and the History of Incumbent Governor Primary Performance – Sabato's Crystal Ball" . Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  14. ↑ Herz, Nathaniel (June 12, 2018). "Frank Murkowski seriously considered running for Alaska governor again". KTOO . Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  15. ↑ Yardley, William (August 25, 2007). "Jet That Helped Defeat an Alaska Governor Is Sold". The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Governor travel shot up with Murkowski's jet, plummets with Palin". Juneau Empire. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Alaska
(Class 3)
1980, 1986, 1992, 1998 		Succeeded by
Lisa Murkowski
Preceded by
John Lindauer (disavowed)
Robin L. Taylor (endorsed)
 Republican nominee for Governor of Alaska
2002 		Succeeded by
Sarah Palin
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Alaska
1981–2002
Served alongside: Ted Stevens 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
1985–1987		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Senate Energy Committee
1995–2001		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Alaska
2002–2006		Succeeded by
Sarah Palin
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Senator Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Senator 		Succeeded byas Former US Senator
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.