Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) Appointed Dec. 2002, 1st term up 2004
Born:	May 22, 1957, Ketchikan
Home:	Anchorage
Education:	Willamette U., 1975-77, Georgetown U., B.A. 1980, Willamette U., J.D. 1985
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Verne Martell)
Elected  Office:	AK House of Reps., 1998-02.
Professional Career:	Anchorage Dist. Court Clerk's Office, atty., 1987-89; Practicing atty., 1989-98.
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Lisa Murkowski became Alaska's sixth U.S. senator when Governor Frank Murkowski, her father, appointed her in December 2002 to fill the vacancy caused by his resignation from the Senate. Lisa Murkowski grew up in Ketchikan on Alaska's Panhandle and in Fairbanks, the second of six children. In her senior year of high school she worked five weeks as an intern in Senator Ted Stevens's Washington office. She attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and graduated from Georgetown in 1980, the year her father was first elected to the Senate, and graduated from Willamette law school in 1985. She served as an Anchorage District Court attorney and worked for an Anchorage law firm for eight years, then established her own law practice. In 1998 she was elected to the state House from a north Anchorage district including her neighborhood of Government Hill.

Alaska's state government depends heavily on revenues from North Slope oil, and in early 2002 was facing a budget shortfall of $1.1 billion. Murkowski was one of the leaders of a bipartisan Fiscal Policy Caucus that sought tax increases--a position opposite to that of her father, who was running for governor on a platform of no new taxes. In March 2002 the House Finance Committee passed a package that included spending $900 million from the Permanent Fund, the first such spending since the Fund was created in 1977; that was eventually defeated. But Murkowski pushed hard for increasing the alcohol tax from 3 cents a drink to 10 cents. She fought fiercely--when another legislator proposed an amendment with a much smaller increase, she said, "I'm gonna kill somebody!"--and the tax was passed in May, giving Alaska the nation's highest alcohol tax. Some conservatives referred to her and her allies as RIMs, "Republican invertebrate moderates." She also angered conservatives when she was one of five Republicans to vote against a bill restricting publicly funded abortions. At the time she said, "I may have a very short-lived political future here. But you know, I've got great kids and a great husband, and I'm going to have a good heart, and I'm going to stand up for the women of the state of Alaska, and I'm going to vote no." But she has also said that abortion should be legal only when a mother's life is in danger or in cases of rape and incest, and in March 2003 said she was against partial-birth abortion. Nonetheless, Alaska Right to Life opposed her in 1998, claiming, "She is not pro-life."

Conservatives opposed her reelection in 2002. Redistricting put her in the same district with incumbent Republican Eldon Mulder, co-chairman of the House Finance Committee. But Mulder decided not to run for reelection. She did have primary opposition from conservative Nancy Dahlstrom, who attacked her for favoring tax increases and tapping the Permanent Fund. This was a close contest and Murkowski won by only 486-429 -- a margin of 57 votes. During this period she evidently stayed at arm's length from her father, who easily won the nomination for governor. "We have always maintained very separate identities at least for the time I have been in the legislature," Lisa Murkowski said. "I haven't called him for counseling and typically he doesn't offer." During and after the primary, she ran for House speaker. In November 2002, Republican House members chose the more conservative Pete Kott of Eagle River for that post and Murkowski for House Majority Leader.

That was just two days after Frank Murkowski had been elected governor. There were two years left in the Senate term to which he had been elected, and Republican legislators had seen to it that he, and not outgoing Democratic Governor Tony Knowles, would appoint his successor. Earlier in the year, they passed over Knowles's veto a law barring a governor from appointing a successor until five days after the vacancy occurred. After Senator Bob Bartlett died in December 1968, Governor Walter Hickel appointed a 45-year-old Anchorage lawyer named Ted Stevens to fill his place; today Stevens is chairman of the Appropriations Committee and President Pro Tempore of the Senate and thus third in line for the presidency. Alaska has only a three-member congressional delegation, but in 2002 it was one with 86 years of seniority: Congressman-at-Large Don Young first won in a special election in 1973 at 39 and Murkowski won his first term in 1980 at 47. Murkowski said he wanted to appoint someone who had legislative experience, was young enough and reelectable enough to serve for many years, who knew and shared his views on Alaska issues. On November 15 he unveiled a short list of 26 potential nominees, not all of whom met all his criteria. Many were experienced politicians, but some had different backgrounds--General Joseph Ralston, NATO Supreme Commander who had served in Alaska and was registered to vote there, as an Independent; retired General Mark Hamilton, President of the University of Alaska; Jerry Hood, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 959 and a former Democrat who had become a Republican (and supported Murkowski for governor in 2002); Francis Hurley, the retired Catholic Archbishop of Anchorage; John Troxel, an Anchorage plastic surgeon; incoming state Senate Majority Leader Ben Stevens, son of Ted Stevens. Also on the list was House Majority Leader Lisa Murkowski. As she later recalled, "We had a conversation and he said, 'Your name keeps coming up. Are you interested in going back to Washington? I confirmed that that was one of those things that everyone in Alaska office would think to as kind of the highlight of a political career. So basically he asked if I wanted to have my name continue on the list, and I said yes." Frank Murkowski interviewed some of those on the short list and promised a decision by December 10. But he had not yet made up his mind when he left for a 10-day trip to Washington that day. On December 17, he said the short list had been narrowed down.

On December 20, Governor Murkowski appointed state Representative Murkowski as senator. "Above all, I felt the person I appoint to the remaining two years of my term should be someone who shares my basic philosophy, my values, but particularly one who shares on the issues of Alaska matters that are before us," he said. "Someone whose judgment I trust in representing the state and all of its people." This was the first time a governor had appointed his daughter, or for that matter his child, to the Senate. Most Republicans and many Democrats said nice things about the new senator. But there was some disapproval--even from the Republican side. Jim Whitaker, an ally of Murkowski in the Alaska House, said her appointment "is nepotism and therefore contrary to the democratic principles of representative government. An action of this type undermines the public trust and is therefore of great concern."

Lisa Murkowski made it clear that she would work for approval of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and for construction of a gas pipeline from the North Slope; she backs a state constitutional amendment allowing a rural priority for subsistence hunting (the federal government has taken over regulation of hunting and fishing on federal land in Alaska) and favors Alaska Native hiring requirements. She noted that as a Republican she was well positioned to help the state. Her first three bills were to increase the authorization for the Denali Commission to $450 million ($97 million was the most recent amount), to extend permanently the Medicaid formula under which the federal government pays about 60% of the cost rather than the 50% in other states and to provide tax deductions for Eskimo whaling captains for the costs of outfitting their boats and crew.

Among those unhappy with the appointment were Alaska conservatives unhappy with her record on taxes and abortion in the state House. Whether they would remain opposed if she should support tax cuts and abortion restrictions in the Senate was unclear. Murkowski said that she expected primary opposition. Mentioned as possible candidates in early 2003 were Alaska Railroad board chairman Johne Binkley, former Anchorage Mayor Rick Mystrom (who made an unsuccessful mayoral return bid in 2003), former lieutenant governor candidate Sarah Palin, Teamsters leader Jerry Hood and Drue Pearce, an aide to Interior Secretary Gale Norton. In February 2003, the White House indicated she would get George W. Bush's support against any opponent. As for the general election, the big question in mid-2003 was whether former Governor Tony Knowles would run. A Democrat who strongly supports oil drilling in ANWR and the gas pipeline, Knowles was elected with 41% in a four-way race in 1994 and with 51% in another four-way race in 1998; he is far and away the most successful Alaska Democrat of his generation. But Knowles was not disclosing his plan; with Alaska's late filing deadline and his universal name identification, he could afford to wait a long time. Also mentioned as possible Democratic candidates if Knowles doesn't run were former Lieutenant Governor Fran Ulmer, who ran a respectable race against Frank Murkowski in 2002, and state House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz.

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DC Office
322 HSOB 20515, 202-224-6665; Fax: 202-224-5301; Web site: murkowski.senate.gov

State Offices
Anchorage, 907-271-3735; Fairbanks,907-456-0233; Juneau,907-586-7400; Kenai,907-283-5808; Ketchikan,907-225-6880; Wasilla,907-376-7665.

Committees

• Energy & Natural Resources: Energy; Public Lands & Forests; Water & Power (Chmn.).
• Environment & Public Works: Fisheries, Wildlife & Water; Transportation & Infrastructure.
• Indian Affairs.
• Veterans' Affairs.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
1998 general	Frank Murkowski (R)	165,227	74%	$911,926
	Joseph Sonneman (D)	43,743	20%	$26,091
	Other	12,837	6%
1998 primary	Frank Murkowski (R)	76,635	72%
	Joseph Sonneman (D)	10,716	10%
	Frank Vondersaar (D)	6,343	6%
	William L. Hale (R)	6,312	6%
	Jeffrey Gottlieb (Green)	4,793	4%
	Other	1,986	2%