Lisa Murkowski

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Lisa Ann Murkowski (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator from the state of Alaska, having held the seat since 2002. She is the first woman to represent Alaska in the U.S. Congress and is the Senate's second-most senior Republican woman. Murkowski became dean of Alaska's congressional delegation upon Representative Don Young's death.

Murkowski is the daughter of former U.S. senator and governor of Alaska Frank Murkowski. She was appointed to the Senate by her father, who resigned his seat in 2002 to become Alaska's governor. Murkowski became the first Alaskan-born member of Congress and completed her father's unexpired Senate term, which ended in January 2005. Before her appointment to the Senate, she had been a member of the Alaska House of Representatives since 1999. Murkowski ran for and won a full term in 2004 with 48% of the vote. After losing the 2010 Republican primary to Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, she ran as a write-in candidate and defeated both Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams in the general election. Murkowski was reelected in 2016 and again in 2022. She was vice chair of the Senate Republican Conference from 2009 to 2010 and chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee from 2015 to 2021. She served as vice chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee from 2021 to 2025 and has served as chair of the committee since January 2025.

Murkowski is often described as one of the Senate's most moderate Republicans and a swing vote. According to CQ Roll Call, she voted with President Barack Obama's position 72.3% of the time in 2013; she was one of only two Republicans to vote with Obama over 70% of the time. She opposed Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination in 2018 and supported Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court nomination in 2022. In 2021, she was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Donald Trump of incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial; the Alaska Republican Party censured her for that vote. Murkowski was a pivotal Republican vote for the first Trump administration's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the second Trump administration's One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Early life, education, and early career

Murkowski was born in Ketchikan in the Territory of Alaska, the daughter of Nancy Rena (née Gore) and Frank Murkowski.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her paternal great-grandfather was of Polish descent, and her mother's ancestry is Irish and French Canadian.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As a child, she and her family moved around the state with her father's job as a banker. She earned a B.A. degree in economics from Georgetown University in 1980, the same year her father was elected to the U.S. Senate. She is a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority<ref name="Notable Pi Phis">Template:Cite web</ref> and represented Alaska as the 1980 Cherry Blossom Princess.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She received her J.D. degree in 1985 from Willamette University College of Law.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Murkowski subsequently failed the bar exam four times in a row, passing on her fifth attempt.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Murkowski worked as an attorney in the Anchorage District Court Clerk's office from 1987 to 1989.<ref name="2010bar">Template:Cite news</ref> From 1989 to 1998, she was an attorney in private practice in Anchorage. She served on the Mayor's Task Force for the Homeless from 1990 to 1991.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Alaska House of Representatives

In 1998, Murkowski was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives. Her District 18 included northeast Anchorage, Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Air Force Base (now Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, or JBER), and suburban parts of Eagle River-Chugiak. In 1999, she introduced legislation establishing a Joint Armed Services Committee. She was reelected in 2000 and, after her district boundaries changed, in 2002. That year she had a conservative primary opponent, Nancy Dahlstrom, who challenged her because Murkowski supported abortion rights and rejected conservative economics. Murkowski won by 56 votes.<ref name=Mitchell>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=AJOC>Template:Cite web</ref> She was named as House Majority Leader for the 2003–04 legislative session. She resigned her House seat before taking office, due to her appointment by her father to the seat he had vacated in the U.S. Senate, upon his stepping down to assume the Alaska governorship.<ref name=senate>Template:Cite news</ref> Murkowski sat on the Alaska Commission on Post Secondary Education and chaired both the Labor and Commerce and the Military and Veterans Affairs Committees. After she resigned to join the U.S. Senate, her father appointed Dahlstrom, the choice of the district's Republican committee, as her replacement.<ref name=AJOC/>

U.S. Senate

Appointment

In December 2002, Murkowski—while a member of the state House—was appointed by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski, to fill his own U.S. Senate seat made vacant when he resigned from the Senate after being elected governor. The appointment, which many Alaska voters saw as a product of nepotism, caused considerable controversy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her appointment eventually resulted in a referendum that stripped the governor of the power to directly appoint replacement senators.<ref name="Volz4">Template:Cite news</ref> Along with others eligible to be considered, future Alaska governor Sarah Palin interviewed for the seat.<ref name="Mitchell" /> Murkowski was sworn in on January 7, 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Elections

Murkowski in 2005

Murkowski has had several close challenges but has never lost a general election. She has won four full terms to the Senate; she won 48.6% of the vote in 2004, 39.5% in 2010, 44.4% in 2016 and 53.7% in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2004

Template:See also Murkowski ran for a full Senate term against former Governor Tony Knowles in the 2004 election after winning a primary challenge by a large margin. She was considered vulnerable due to the controversy over her appointment, and polling showed the race was very close. The centrist Republican Main Street Partnership, which wanted to run TV ads for Murkowski, was told no airtime was left to buy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Near the end of the campaign, senior U.S. Senator Ted Stevens appeared in TV ads for Murkowski and claimed that if a Democrat replaced Murkowski, Alaska would likely receive fewer federal dollars.Template:Citation needed Murkowski defeated Knowles by 9,349 votes.

2010

Template:See also Murkowski faced a challenge from Joe Miller, a former U.S. magistrate judge supported by former Governor Sarah Palin,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in the August 24, 2010, Republican Party primary election. The initial results showed Murkowski trailing Miller, 51–49%, with absentee ballots yet to be tallied.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After the first round of absentee ballots was counted on August 31, Murkowski conceded, saying that she did not believe that Miller's lead could be overcome in the next round of absentee vote counting.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="concession">Template:Cite news</ref> Miller received 55,878 votes to Murkowski's 53,872.<ref name="Results">Template:Cite web</ref>

After the primary, the Murkowski campaign floated the idea of her running as a Libertarian in the general election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On August 29, 2010, the state Libertarian Party executive board voted not to consider Murkowski as its Senate nominee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On September 17, 2010, Murkowski said she would mount a write-in campaign for the Senate seat.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her campaign was aided in large part by substantial funding from state teachers' and firefighters' unions, Native corporations, and PACs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On November 17, 2010, the Associated Press reported that Murkowski had become only the second Senate candidate (after Strom Thurmond in 1954) to win a write-in campaign.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She emerged victorious after a two-week count of write-in ballots showed that she had overtaken Miller.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="AP calls">Template:Cite news</ref> Miller did not concede.<ref name="AP calls" /> U.S. Federal District Judge Ralph Beistline granted an injunction to stop the certification of the election due to "serious" legal issues and irregularities Miller raised about the hand count of absentee ballots.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On December 10, 2010, an Alaskan judge dismissed Miller's case, clearing the way for Murkowski's certification,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> but on December 13, Miller appealed the decision to the Alaska Supreme Court. The state Supreme Court rejected Miller's appeal on December 22.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On December 28, Beistline dismissed Miller's lawsuit. Governor Sean Parnell certified Murkowski as the winner on December 30.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2016

Official portrait of Murkowski, 2017

Template:See also After securing the Republican Party nomination by a wide margin, Murkowski was again reelected to the Senate in 2016. Joe Miller, this time the Libertarian Party nominee, was again the runner-up. The election was unusual in featuring a Libertarian Party nominee who endorsed the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, running against a Republican incumbent who did not.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Libertarian vice-presidential nominee, former Governor of Massachusetts Bill Weld, endorsed Murkowski, citing Miller's support for Trump and "devoted social conservative" views as incompatible with libertarianism.

2022

Template:Main In 2017, Murkowski filed to run for a fourth term in 2022.<ref name="fec.gov">Template:Cite web</ref> Due to her opposition to some of his initiatives, former President Donald Trump pledged in June 2020 to support a Republican challenger to Murkowski, saying: "Get any candidate ready, good or bad, I don't care. I'm endorsing. If you have a pulse, I'm with you!"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="CNN.Campaign">Template:Cite news</ref> She was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial in February 2021, and was the only one up for reelection in 2022. After her vote, Alaska's GOP censured Murkowski and demanded her resignation.<ref name=CNN.Campaign/> Despite Trump's pledge, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled Republican senators' commitment to back Murkowski's 2022 campaign.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During her 2022 campaign, Murkowski was supported by Democratic colleagues, including Jeanne Shaheen, and Independent Senator Angus King.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On June 18, 2021, Trump endorsed former Alaska Department of Administration commissioner Kelly Tshibaka for the Senate in 2022, calling her "MAGA all the way".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Murkowski later called Tshibaka "apparentlyTemplate:Nbsp... someone with a pulse",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> referencing Trump's previous statement.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On July 10, 2021, the Alaska Republican Party endorsed Tshibaka.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Murkowski won reelection by beating Tshibaka in both the first and final round of ranked-choice voting.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She received 53.7% of the vote after the ranked-choice tabulation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Tenure and political positions

Murkowski is considered a moderate Republican.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since she was reelected in 2010, someTemplate:Who have deemed her voting record "more moderate" than that of her previous years in the Senate.<ref>Template:Cite web
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Template:Cite news</ref> In 2013, the National Journal gave Murkowski a composite score of 56% conservative and 45% liberal,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and ranked her the 56th most liberal and 44th most conservative member of the Senate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> According to CQ Roll Call, Murkowski voted with President Barack Obama's position 72.3% of the time in 2013; she was one of only two Senate Republicans to support Obama's position over 70% of the time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2017, The New York Times arranged Republican senators by ideology and ranked Murkowski the second-most liberal Republican.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> According to GovTrack, Template:As of, Murkowski was the second-most liberal Republican senator, to the left of all Senate Republicans except Susan Collins, and to the left of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to FiveThirtyEight, Murkowski had voted in accordance with President Donald Trump's position approximately 72.6% of the time Template:As of.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> According to FiveThirtyEight, as of January 2023, Murkowski had voted with President Joe Biden's position about 67% of the time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2023, the Lugar Center ranked Murkowski seventh among senators for bipartisanship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2018, Murkowski stated her opposition to the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States. Nevertheless, she voted "present" on the nomination as a favor to Senator Steve Daines, who supported the nomination but was unavailable to attend the vote because of his daughter's wedding.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2020, she voted against procedural motions to accelerate Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to that court, though she later voted to confirm Barrett.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On April 7, 2022, she voted to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, with only two other Republicans, Collins and Mitt Romney, joining her.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In a March 2019 op-ed for The Washington Post, Murkowski and Joe Manchin wrote that climate change debate in Congress was depicted as "an issue with just two sides—those who support drastic, unattainable measures to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and those who want to do nothing", and affirmed their support for "adopting reasonable policies that...build on and accelerate current efforts [and] ensure a robust innovation ecosystem."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

During the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump, Murkowski called Trump's actions "shameful and wrong", but said "she cannot vote to convict" Trump and that his personal interests did not take precedence over those of the nation. She joined almost all Senate Republicans in voting to acquit Trump on both articles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In December 2020, during his lame-duck period, Trump vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.<ref name="Kcaw2020-12-28" /> The veto left new Coast Guard cutters that were scheduled to be homeported in Alaska without port facilities to maintain them.<ref name="Kcaw2020-12-28" /> Murkowski issued a press release that said, in part, "It’s incredible that the President chose to veto the annual National Defense Authorization Act, particularly because his reason for doing so is an issue not related to national defense."<ref name="Kcaw2020-12-28" />

After Trump supporters attacked the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, Murkowski said Trump should resign for inciting the insurrection. With this, she became the first Senate Republican to say that Trump should leave office before Joe Biden was inaugurated.<ref name="Brooks">Template:Cite web</ref> On February 13, she was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial. That vote failed for lack of a two-thirds majority.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On May 27, along with five other Republicans and all present Democrats, Murkowski voted to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol attack. The vote failed for lack of 60 required "yes" votes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Along with all other Senate and House Republicans, Murkowski voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.<ref name="BipartisanshipDead">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> On September 30, 2021, she was among the 15 Senate Republicans to vote with all Democrats and both Independents for a temporary spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On October 7, Murkowski voted with 10 other Republicans and all members of the Democratic caucus to break the filibuster of raising the debt ceiling,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but also voted with all Republicans against the bill to raise the debt ceiling.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On February 5, 2022, Murkowski joined Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson in condemning the Republican National Committee's censure of Representatives Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney for supporting and participating in the Select Committee of the U.S. House that was tasked with investigating the January 6 United States Capitol attack.<ref name=riot>Template:Cite web</ref>

Murkowski supports the Equal Rights Amendment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2022, she and 11 other Senate Republicans voted for the Respect for Marriage Act.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As of 2023, Murkowski supports ConocoPhillips's controversial Willow oil drilling project on North Slope Borough, Alaska.<ref name="cnn">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2024, Murkowski and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse co-authored legislation to ban the commercial farming of octopuses. They cited concerns relating to octopus intelligence and animal rights.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Murkowski with President Donald Trump, Susie Wiles, and fellow female Republican senators, January 2025

In 2021, when asked whether she would remain a Republican, Murkowski replied, "if the Republican Party has become nothing more than the party of Trump, I sincerely question whether this is the party for me",<ref name="Brooks"/> but added, "I have absolutely no desire to move over to the Democratic side of the aisle. I can't be somebody that I'm not."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2024, when asked if she intended to remain a Republican, Murkowski replied that she was "independently minded". Asked whether that meant she might drop her party affiliation, she responded: "I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times. Let's just leave it at that."<ref>Lisa Murkowski says she's considering quitting Republican Party because of Trump, The Independent, John Bowden, March 25, 2024. Retrieved April 5, 2024.</ref> She later added that she was "not attached to a label" and was "more comfortable with that identity [...] than with an identity […] as a Republican, as a party person", but that she would remain a registered Republican.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Murkowski has criticized DOGE, saying she refuses to compromise her integrity by remaining silent. In April 2025, when questioned about the political climate, she said, "We are all afraid", adding, "retaliation is real".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Since Trump regained the presidency in 2025, Murkowski has voted in line with his administration's position in about 85% of major Senate votes. This includes support for most Cabinet and judicial nominees.

Murkowski voted for "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" on July 1, 2025,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> after securing concessions that maintained pork barrel protections for wind and solar projects in Alaska. The Trump administration waived these protections by executive order after the bill was signed into law.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

119th United States Congress Committee assignments

Source:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• Committee on Appropriations
• Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on National Parks
  • Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining
• Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
  • Subcommittee on Education and the American Family
  • Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security
• Committee on Indian Affairs (Chair)

Caucus memberships

• Senate Oceans Caucus (co-chairwoman)
• Senate Cultural Caucus
• Afterschool Caucuses<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Senate Republican Conference
• Senate Arctic Caucus (chairwoman)
• Congressional Coalition on Adoption<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Electoral history

2022 U.S. Senate general election results in Alaska<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

Party		Candidate	First Choice			Round 1			Round 2			Round 3
			Votes	%	Transfer	Votes	%	Transfer	Votes	%	Transfer	Votes	%
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Republican	Template:Sortname (incumbent)	113,495	43.37%	+623	114,118	43.39%	+1,641	115,759	44.49%	+20,571	136,330	53.70%
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Republican	Template:Sortname	111,480	42.60%	+621	112,101	42.62%	+3,209	115,310	44.32%	+2,224	117,534	46.30%
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Democratic	Template:Sortname	27,145	10.37%	+1,088	28,233	10.73%	+901	29,134	11.20%	−29,134	Eliminated
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Republican	Template:Sortname (withdrew)Template:Efn	7,557	2.89%	+1,018	8,575	3.26%	−8,575	Eliminated
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Write-in		2,028	0.77%	-2,028	Eliminated
Total votes			261,705			263,027			260,203			253,864
Blank or inactive ballots						3,770		+2,824	6,594		+6,339	12,933
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Republican hold

Personal life

Murkowski and Verne Martell pose with Jeff King during the ceremonial start of the 2019 Iditarod.

Murkowski is married to Verne Martell.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They have two sons, Nicolas and Matthew.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Murkowski is Roman Catholic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As of 2018, according to OpenSecrets.org, Murkowski's net worth was more than $1.4 million.<ref name="net-worth">Template:Cite web</ref> Her sister, Carol, is married to the son of State Senator Arliss Sturgulewski, a former gubernatorial nominee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Property sale controversy

In July 2007, Murkowski said she would sell back land she bought from Anchorage businessman Bob Penney, a day after a Washington watchdog group filed a Senate ethics complaint against her alleging that Penney sold the property well below market value.<ref name="Anchorage Daily News">Template:Cite news</ref> The Anchorage Daily News wrote, "The transaction amounted to an illegal gift worth between $70,000 and $170,000, depending on how the property was valued, according to the complaint by the National Legal and Policy Center."<ref name="Anchorage Daily News"/> According to the Associated Press, Murkowski bought the land from two developers tied to the Ted Stevens probe.<ref name="MurkowskiStevensaide">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2008, Murkowski amended her Senate financial disclosures for 2004 through 2006, adding income of $60,000 per year from the sale of a property in 2003, and more than $40,000 a year from the sale of her "Alaska Pasta Company" in 2005.<ref>Template:Cite web
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See also

• Arctic Policy of the United States
• Women in the United States Senate

External links

• Senator Lisa Murkowski official U.S. Senate website
• Lisa Murkowski for Senate
• Template:CongLinks
• Template:C-SPAN
• Interview-impeachment process
• Lisa Murkowski at 100 Years of Alaska's Legislature

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