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]
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]
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]
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