Murkowski, Frank Hughes (1933-…), represented Alaska in the United States Senate from 1981 to 2002. Murkowski, a Republican, also served as governor of Alaska from 2002 to 2006.
Murkowski was born in Seattle on March 28, 1933, but grew up in Ketchikan, Alaska. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Seattle University in 1955. In 1955 and 1956, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard.
From 1966 to 1970, Murkowski was Alaska commissioner of economic development. He ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1970 but lost. From 1971 to 1980, Murkowski was president of Alaska National Bank of the North. He also served as president of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce in 1977. In 1980, Murkowski was elected to his first term in the U.S. Senate. He took office in 1981. As a senator, Murkowski worked especially on legislation concerning East Asia. He favored expansion of U.S. trade with the Far East and talks between North and South Korea.
Murkowski was elected governor of Alaska in 2002. He resigned from the Senate shortly after the election. He appointed his daughter Lisa Murkowski, a member of the Alaska House of Representatives, to serve the remaining two years of his Senate term. In 2004, Lisa Murkowski won election to a full term in the Senate. She was reelected in 2010, 2016, and 2022. In 2006, Frank Murkowski lost a Republican primary race for governor to Sarah Palin, a former mayor of the city of Wasilla, Alaska. In 2008, Palin was the vice presidential running mate of John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee. McCain and Palin lost the election.
