Bio
Lisa Ann Murkowski (/mÉœËrˈkaÊŠskiË/; born May 22, 1957) is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Alaska, having held that seat since 2002. She is a member of the Republican Party, and is the second most senior Republican woman in the Senate. Along with Susan Collins from Maine, she is frequently described as one of the most moderate Republicans in the Senate and is a crucial swing voter.
Murkowski is the daughter of former U.S. Senator and Governor of Alaska, Frank Murkowski. Before her appointment to the Senate, she served in the Alaska House of Representatives and was eventually elected Majority Leader. She was appointed to the U.S. Senate by her father, who resigned his seat in December 2002 to become the Governor of Alaska. She completed her father's unexpired term, which ended in January 2005.
Murkowski ran for and won a full term in 2004. She ran for a second term in 2010. After losing the Republican Party primary to Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, Murkowski ran as a write-in candidate and defeated both Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams in the general election; this made her the second U.S. Senator (and the first since Strom Thurmond in 1954) to be elected by write-in vote. Although Murkowski has won three full terms to the Senate, she has never won a majority of the vote; she won pluralities in each of her three races, with 48.6% of the vote in 2004, 39.5% in 2010, and 44.4% in 2016.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Political Views
Senator Lisa Murkowski is a moderate Republican. Since winning re-election in 2010, her voting record has been deemed by some as "more moderate" when compared to her previous years in the Senate. The National Journal, in 2013, gave Murkowski a composite score of 56% conservative and 45% liberal. The National Journal ranked her as the 56th most liberal and 44th most conservative member of the Senate. CrowdPac, which rates politicians based on donations they receive and give, has given Murkowski a score of 2.7C with 10C being the most conservative and 10L being the most liberal. According to GovTrack, Murkowski is the second most moderate Republican Senator and as of 2017 is placed by GovTrack's analysis to the left of all Republicans, except Susan Collins, and to the left of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. The New York Times arranged Republican senators by ideology and also ranked Murkowski as the second most liberal Republican. Senator Murkowski has earned a 57.70% Lifetime Score from the American Conservative Union. In 2018, the fiscally conservative PAC Americans for Prosperity gave her a lifetime rating of 75% conservative and the ACU gave her a 52% conservative score in 2017. Americans for Democratic Action gave her a 2018 rating of 20% liberal. According to FiveThirtyEight, which tracks Congressional votes, Murkowski voted with President Trump's position approximately 74% of the time as of November, 2019. According to CQ Roll Call, Murkowski voted with President Obama's position on votes 72.3% of the time in 2013, one of only two Republicans voting for his positions over 70% of the time. In 2019, she was one of three Republican Senators, the others being Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah, who refused to sign a resolution opposing the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
