HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the
senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...
United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
from the state of
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
, 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 Donald Edwin Young (June 9, 1933 – March 18, 2022) was an American politician from Alaska. He is the List of members of the United States Congress by longevity of service, longest-serving Republican Party (United States), Republican in House ...
's death. Murkowski is the daughter of former U.S. senator and
governor of Alaska A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
Frank Murkowski. She was appointed to the Senate by her father, who resigned his seat in December 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 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
with 48% of the vote. After losing the 2010 Republican primary to Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, she ran as a
write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...
and defeated both Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams in the
general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
. Murkowski was reelected in
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
and again in
2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
. 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 has served as vice chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee since 2021. Murkowski is often described as one of the Senate's most moderate Republicans and a
swing vote A swing vote is a vote that is seen as potentially going to any one of a number of candidates in an election, or, in a two-party system, may go to either of the two dominant political parties. It usually comes from voters who are 'undecided' or ...
. According to ''CQ Roll Call'', she voted with President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
'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 Brett Michael Kavanaugh (; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oct ...
's Supreme Court nomination in 2018 and supported
Ketanji Brown Jackson Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson (née Brown; ; born September 14, 1970) is an American lawyer and jurist who is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson Ketanji Brown Jackson Supreme Court nomination, was nominated ...
's Supreme Court nomination in 2022. In 2021, she was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
of incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial; the Alaska Republican Party censured her for that vote.


Early life, education, and early career

Murkowski was born in Ketchikan in the
Territory of Alaska The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an Organized incorporated territories of the United States, organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The ...
, the daughter of Nancy Rena (née Gore) and Frank Murkowski. Her paternal great-grandfather was of Polish descent, and her mother's ancestry is Irish and
French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...
. 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 Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
from
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
in 1980, the same year her father was elected to the U.S. Senate. She is a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and represented Alaska as the 1980 Cherry Blossom Princess. She received her J.D. degree in 1985 from Willamette University College of Law. Murkowski subsequently failed the bar exam four times in a row, passing on her fifth attempt. Murkowski worked as an attorney in the Anchorage District Court Clerk's office from 1987 to 1989. 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.


Alaska House of Representatives

In 1998, Murkowski was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives. Her District 18 included northeast
Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...
, 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. 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. 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 District Republican committee's choice, as her replacement.


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 caused controversy in Alaska. Many voters disapproved of the
nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...
. Her appointment eventually resulted in a referendum that stripped the governor of the power to directly appoint replacement senators. Along with others eligible to be considered, future Alaska governor
Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, and author who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomi ...
interviewed for the seat. Murkowski was sworn in on January 7, 2003.


Elections

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.


2004

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. Near the end of the campaign, senior U.S. Senator
Ted Stevens Theodore Fulton Stevens Sr. (November 18, 1923 – August 9, 2010) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senate, U.S. Senator from Alaska from 1968 to 2009. He was the longest-serving Republican Party (United St ...
shot ads for Murkowski and claimed that if a Democrat replaced Murkowski, Alaska would likely receive fewer federal dollars. Murkowski defeated Knowles by a narrow margin.


2010

Murkowski faced a challenge from Joe Miller, a former U.S. magistrate judge supported by former
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, and author who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomi ...
, 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. 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. Miller received 55,878 votes to Murkowski's 53,872. After the primary, the Murkowski campaign floated the idea of her running as a
Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...
in the general election. On August 29, 2010, the state Libertarian Party executive board voted not to consider Murkowski as its Senate nominee. On September 17, 2010, Murkowski said she would mount a
write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...
campaign for the Senate seat. Her campaign was aided in large part by substantial funding from state teachers' and firefighters' unions and Native corporations and PACs. On November 17, 2010, the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
reported that Murkowski had become only the second Senate candidate (after Strom Thurmond in
1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...
) to win a write-in campaign. She emerged victorious after a two-week count of write-in ballots showed she had overtaken Miller. Miller did not concede. 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. On December 10, 2010, an Alaskan judge dismissed Miller's case, clearing the way for Murkowski, but on December 13, Miller appealed the decision to the Alaska Supreme Court. The state Supreme Court rejected Miller's appeal on December 22. On December 28, Beistline dismissed Miller's lawsuit. Governor
Sean Parnell Sean Randall Parnell (born November 19, 1962) is an American attorney and politician who was the tenth governor of Alaska from 2009 to 2014.
certified Murkowski as the winner on December 30.


2016

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 Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, running against a Republican incumbent who did not. The Libertarian vice-presidential nominee, former
Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...
Bill Weld, endorsed Murkowski, citing Miller's support for Trump and "devoted social conservative" views as incompatible with
libertarianism Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according t ...
.


2022

In 2017, Murkowski filed to run for a fourth term in 2022. Due to her opposition to some of his initiatives, former President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
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!" 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. Despite Trump's pledge, Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell is in his seventh Senate term and is the long ...
signaled Republican senators' commitment to back Murkowski's 2022 campaign. During her 2022 campaign, Murkowski was supported by Democratic colleagues, including
Jeanne Shaheen Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen ( ; née Bowers, born January 28, 1947) is an American politician and former educator serving since 2009 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New Hampshire. A ...
, and Independent Senator
Angus King Angus Stanley King Jr. (born March 31, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician who has served since 2013 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Maine. A Independent politician, political independent, h ...
. On June 18, 2021, Trump endorsed former
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
Department of Administration commissioner Kelly Tshibaka for the Senate in 2022, calling her "
MAGA "Make America Great Again" (MAGA, ) is an American political slogan most recently popularized by Donald Trump during Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign, his successful presidential campaigns in 2016 and Donald Trump 2024 presidential cam ...
all the way". Murkowski later called Tshibaka "apparently... someone with a pulse", referencing Trump's previous statement. On July 10, 2021, the Alaska Republican Party endorsed Tshibaka. Murkowski won reelection by beating Tshibaka in both the first and final round of ranked-choice voting. She received 53.7% of the vote after the ranked-choice tabulation.


Tenure and political positions

Murkowski is considered a moderate Republican. Since she was reelected in 2010, some have deemed her voting record "more moderate" than that of her previous years in the Senate. In 2013, the '' National Journal'' gave Murkowski a composite score of 56% conservative and 45% liberal, and ranked her the 56th most liberal and 44th most conservative member of the Senate. According to ''CQ Roll Call'', Murkowski voted with President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
'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. In 2017, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' arranged Republican senators by ideology and ranked Murkowski the second-most liberal Republican. According to GovTrack, , Murkowski was the second-most liberal Republican senator, to the left of all Senate Republicans except
Susan Collins Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of ...
, and to the left of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. According to
FiveThirtyEight ''FiveThirtyEight'', also rendered as ''538'', was an American website that focused on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which took its name from the number of electors in the U ...
, Murkowski had voted in accordance with President Donald Trump's position approximately 72.6% of the time . According to FiveThirtyEight, as of January 2023, Murkowski had voted with President Joe Biden's position about 67% of the time. In 2023, the Lugar Center ranked Murkowski seventh among senators for bipartisanship. In 2018, Murkowski stated her opposition to the confirmation of Justice
Brett Kavanaugh Brett Michael Kavanaugh (; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oct ...
to the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
. Nevertheless, she voted "present" on the nomination as a favor to Senator
Steve Daines Steven David Daines ( ; born August 20, 1962) is an American politician and former corporate executive serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Montana, a seat he has held since ...
, who supported the nomination but was unavailable to attend the vote because of his daughter's wedding. In 2020, she voted against procedural motions to accelerate Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to that court, though she later voted to confirm Barrett. On April 7, 2022, she voted to confirm
Ketanji Brown Jackson Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson (née Brown; ; born September 14, 1970) is an American lawyer and jurist who is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson Ketanji Brown Jackson Supreme Court nomination, was nominated ...
to the Supreme Court, with only two other Republicans, Collins and
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
, joining her. In a March 2019 op-ed for ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', 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 ndensure a robust innovation ecosystem." During the
first impeachment trial of Donald Trump The first impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, began in the U.S. Senate on January 16, 2020, and concluded with his acquittal on February 5. After Impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump, an inquiry bet ...
, 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. In December 2020, during his lame-duck period, Trump vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. The veto left new
Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...
cutters that were scheduled to be homeported in Alaska without port facilities to maintain them. 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." 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. 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. 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. Along with all other Senate and House Republicans, Murkowski voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. 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 A government shutdown occurs when the legislative branch does not pass key bills which fund or authorize the operations of the executive branch, resulting in the cessation of some or all operations of a government. Government shutdowns in the U ...
. 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, but also voted with all Republicans against the bill to raise the debt ceiling. On February 5, 2022, Murkowski joined Arkansas Governor
Asa Hutchinson William Asa Hutchinson II (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, AY-sÉ™''; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 46th governor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Part ...
in condemning the
Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...
's
censure A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a sp ...
of Representatives Adam Kinzinger and
Liz Cheney Elizabeth Lynne Cheney (; born July 28, 1966) is an American attorney and politician. She represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, and served as chair of the House Republican Conference from 2019 to 2021. Cheney i ...
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 On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump, President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months afte ...
. Murkowski supports the
Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution that would explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. It is not currently a part of the Constitution, though its Ratifi ...
. In 2022, she and 11 other Senate Republicans voted for the
Respect for Marriage Act The Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA; ) is a landmark United States federal law passed by the 117th United States Congress in 2022 and signed into law by President Joe Biden. It repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), requires the U.S. federal ...
. As of 2023, Murkowski supports ConocoPhillips's controversial Willow oil drilling project on North Slope Borough, Alaska. In 2024, Murkowski and Senator
Sheldon Whitehouse Sheldon Whitehouse (born October 20, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2007 as the junior United States senator from Rhode Island. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1998 as the United States Att ...
co-authored legislation to ban the commercial farming of octopuses. They cited concerns relating to octopus intelligence and
animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
. 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", 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." 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." 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. 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".


119th United States Congress Committee assignments

Source: * 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 * Senate Republican Conference * Senate Arctic Caucus (chairwoman) * Congressional Coalition on Adoption


Electoral history


Personal life

Murkowski is married to Verne Martell. They have two sons, Nicolas and Matthew. Murkowski is
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
. As of 2018, according to OpenSecrets.org, Murkowski's net worth was more than $1.4 million. Her sister, Carol, is married to the son of State Senator Arliss Sturgulewski, a former gubernatorial nominee.


Property sale controversy

In July 2007, Murkowski said she would sell back land she bought from
Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...
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. 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." According to the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
, Murkowski bought the land from two developers tied to the
Ted Stevens Theodore Fulton Stevens Sr. (November 18, 1923 – August 9, 2010) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senate, U.S. Senator from Alaska from 1968 to 2009. He was the longest-serving Republican Party (United St ...
probe. 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.


See also

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


Notes


References


External links


Senator Lisa Murkowski
official U.S. Senate website
Lisa Murkowski for Senate
* *
Interview-impeachment process

Lisa Murkowski
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Murkowski, Lisa 1957 births 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century members of the Alaska Legislature 21st-century members of the Alaska Legislature 21st-century Alaska politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century United States senators Alaska lawyers American beauty pageant winners American people of French-Canadian descent American people of Irish descent American politicians of Polish descent American Roman Catholics American women lawyers Beauty queen-politicians Catholic politicians from Alaska Female United States senators Georgetown University alumni Lawyers from Anchorage, Alaska Lawyers from Fairbanks, Alaska Living people Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Fairbanks, Alaska People from the Territory of Alaska Politicians from Ketchikan, Alaska People from Wrangell, Alaska Pi Beta Phi Recipients of the Order of the Falcon Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Republican Party United States senators from Alaska Willamette University College of Law alumni Women state legislators in Alaska