Frank Murkowski

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Frank Hughes Murkowski (born March 28, 1933) is an American retired politician and a member of the Republican Party.

He served as Alaska's eighth governor from 1981 to 2006, and he served as Alaska's seventh governor from 1981 to 2006.

He lost re-election to Sarah Palin and John Binkley by finishing third place.

Early life and education

Murkowski was born in Seattle, Washington, and the son of Helen (née Hughes) and Frank M. Murkowski. His paternal grandfather was of Polish descent. Murkowski attended Ketchikan High School in Alaska, graduating in 1951. Santa Clara University taught economics from 1951 to 1953. He joined the United States Coast Guard in 1955 and served until 1957, the year his daughter Lisa was born. He was stationed in Sitka and Ketchikan, Alaska, and on board the cutters Sortle and Thistle.

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Career

Murkowski became Alaska's youngest commissioner at the time when he was named Commissioner of Economic Growth, 33, and was promoted to the presidency of the Alaska National Bank of the North in 1971 after a stint at Pacific National Bank and further research at Pacific Coast Banking School. He has served as president of the Alaska Bankers Association and the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, which was established in 1977.

In 1970, he ran for Alaska's sole seat in the United States Congress, but was defeated by Democratic state Senator Nick Begich.

He was first elected to the Senate in 1980, defeating Democratic nominee Clark Gruening and aided by Ronald Reagan's fame. He gained 54% of the vote. He was re-elected in 1986, 1992, and 1998. He served as Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee from 1995 to 2001 during his time in the Senate. He argued and unsuccessfully attempted to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration as chair.

In the Senate, Murkowski had an anti-abortion record. He also opposes gun control and affirmative action.

Murkowski said in a Senate floor address on the prohibition of homosexuals serving in the military, that homosexuals have the right to choose their religion, but there is no such thing as a soldier. In his opposition to lifting the ban, Mr. Obama spoke out against the cost of treating service members infected with HIV. While in office, his son and successor, Lisa Murkowski, voted to repeal the ban on homosexuals in the military services, and later became the third Republican senator to endorse same-sex marriage.

Murkowski was elected governor on November 5, 2002, receiving nearly 56% of the vote, the highest percentage for any Republican gubernatorial candidate in Alaska history up to that time. He succeeded Democrat Tony Knowles and took office on December 2, 2002.

At his inauguration, he resigned his Senate seat and brought Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska House Majority Leader-designate, to replace him. The appointment was widely chastised as an act of nepotism.

He brokered a deal for a gas pipeline that had never been discussed by the legislature in final form until the end of his term. Murkowski had intended to sign the contract without regulatory approval, but the legislature later filed a lawsuit to prevent him from doing so.

Governor Murkowski ran for re-election in 2006 but came in third behind former Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin and Alaska businessman John Binkley in the Republican primary election on August 22, 2006 (Palin winning 51% and Murkowski's 19%) in second place. Murkowski's margin of defeat was the largest in any Republican primary won by an incumbent governor in the United States in history. Murkowski had one of the country's lowest approval ratings of 19% when he took office.

Jim Clark, Murkowski's former chief-of-staff, confessed on March 4, 2008 that he was aware that Veco Corp had paid $10,000 for a political poll to measure Governor Murkowski's popularity, then-incumbent Governor Murkowski's popularity. Clark was charged with "honest services fraud." The US Supreme Court ruled that the statute had been drafted with unconstitutional insensitivity, and that it would only protect "fraudulent attempts to deprive another of legitimate goods through bribes or kickbacks from a third party who has [has] not been deceived." Since Clark was found not guilty of either bribes nor kickbacks, all charges were dismissed.

Murkowski served in the public service for 28 years, 22 years as Alaska's junior senator and four years as governor in Washington, D.C., and four years as governor.

In the 2018 election, Murkowski considered returning to his old job, but ultimately decided against it.

Murkowski bought a Westwind II jet with state funds in 2005 despite opposition from the Alaska Legislature. This acquisition became the symbol of his unpopular state politics, in the sense that Sarah Palin's successor promised to sell the jet once she assumed governor.

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