Assignment #1
Alaskan Senatorial Candidate Backgrounds
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) was born and raised in Alaska. After earning her bachelor’s degree at Georgetown University and her law degree at Williamette College of Law, she returned to Alaska to practice law, first as an Anchorage District Court attorney and then in private practice. She was elected to three terms in the Alaska State House of Representatives and served from 1999-2002. Her colleagues elected her as the House Majority leader for the 2003-2004 term, which she was unable to serve because her father, current Alaskan governor Frank Murkowski, appointed her to the U.S. Senate (Lisa Murkowski 2003).
Frank Murkowski appointed Lisa to fill the Senate vacancy that resulted from his resignation from the U.S. Senate after 22 years of service. The apparent nepotism of Lisa Murkowski’s appointment to the Senate sparked substantial controversy. Murkowski’s main opponent in the Republican senatorial primary used this controversial appointment as a key point in his campaign. However he had much less money than Murkowski had and could not mount a serious challenge (Rosen 2004). Murkowski's campaign has strong financial backing as a result of her incumbency and her name recognition. Nevertheless her victory in the Republican primary was significant since it marked her first experience in a statewide race (Rosen 2004). However this name recognition, largely inherited from her father, could present a problem in the general election since her father’s approval ratings as governor have fallen (Armstrong 2004).
Despite the uproar resulting from Murkowski's appointment in 2002, she became the first Alaskan-born politician to represent the state in the U.S. Senate (Lisa Murkowski 2003). This fact especially matters in Alaska, where politicians commonly question the extent of opponents’ Alaskan background (CNN.com 2004). Murkowski has an advantage over her opponent Tony Knowles in this regard, but Knowles does have an extensive background in Alaskan politics.
Tony Knowles (D) is an Oklahoma native. He served in the U.S. Army, including a tour in Vietnam, before going to college at Yale University. After graduation, he moved to Alaska to work in the oil drilling business. Soon after moving, he started several successful restaurants. Then in 1981, Knowles ran for mayor of Anchorage. He won the post and was later re-elected to a second term. Several years after serving as mayor of Anchorage, Tony Knowles ran for and became Governor of Alaska (Knowles 2004). He served two terms from 1994-2002, but the Alaskan term-limit laws barred Knowles from seeking a third term as governor (CNN.com 2002). Despite being a Democrat in an otherwise heavily Republican state, Knowles clearly has had significant political success.
Knowles's political support does not appear to have wavered in his short time out of office. He received nearly 88% of the popular vote in the Democratic senatorial primary. Also despite Knowles's role as the challenger in this election, he has been able to acquire substantial financial support for his senatorial campaign (Mauer and Tsong 2004).