2004 United States Senate election in Alaska

2004 United States Senate election in Alaska
November 2, 2004
 
Nominee Lisa Murkowski Tony Knowles
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 149,773 140,424
Percentage 48.58% 45.55%
Results by borough and census area
Murkowski:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Knowles:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
U.S. senator before election

Lisa Murkowski[a]
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Lisa Murkowski
Republican

Elections in Alaska
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The 2004 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 2, 2004. Interim U.S. senator Lisa Murkowski won re-election to a full term in office over former governor Tony Knowles. Murkowski had been appointed in 2002 by Frank Murkowski, her father and the governor of the state.

At the time, this was the closest United States Senate election in Alaska history; it has since been surpassed in 2008, 2010 and 2014. Murkowski was the first woman elected to the United States Congress from Alaska. As of 2025, Murkowski’s total vote of 149,773 remains the most she has received in her four campaigns for United States Senate.

Background

On November 5, 2002, U.S. senator Frank Murkowski ran for election as governor of Alaska and won, resigning from the United States Senate to take office as governor on December 2. On December 20, Murkowski appointed his daughter Lisa, a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives from Anchorage, to his former seat for the remainder of his unexpired term. Murkowski passed over other potential appointees, including retiring Wasilla mayor Sarah Palin and state senator Ben Stevens, who was the son of the state's popular senior senator, Ted Stevens.

Republican primary

Candidates

  • Jim Dore, aviation mechanic
  • Mike W. Miller, businessman, former state senator, former state representative, nominee for lieutenant governor in 1994 and younger brother of Terry Miller
  • Lisa Murkowski, incumbent U.S. Senator since 2002, formerly an Anchorage lawyer and member of the Alaska House
  • Wev Shea, former U.S. Attorney for Alaska

Results

Republican primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lisa Murkowski (incumbent) 45,710 58.1%
Republican Mike Miller 29,313 37.3%
Republican Wev Shea 2,857 3.6%
Republican Jim Dore 748 0.9%
Total votes 78,628 100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tony Knowles 40,881 95.0%
Democratic Don Wright 1,080 2.5%
Democratic Theresa Obermeyer 1,045 2.4%
Total votes 43,006 100.0%

General election

Candidates

  • Ted Gianoutsos, lobbyist and activist on ANWR and veterans issues (Independent)
  • Scott Kohlhaas, party activist and perennial candidate (Libertarian)
  • Tony Knowles, former governor of Alaska (Democratic)
  • Marc Millican, aviator and U.S. Air Force veteran (Independent)
  • Lisa Murkowski, interim U.S. senator since 2002 (Republican)
  • Jerry Sanders, businessman, former state representative (American Independent)
  • Jim Sykes, party activist and perennial candidate (Green)

Campaign

By 2004, popular opinion had swung against the Murkowski family because of a state tax increase passed by Frank. Lisa Murkowski had very low approval ratings and faced accusations that she owed her seat to nepotism. Knowles enlisted extensive out-of-state support in his bid for the seat and ran on his support for drilling in ANWR, in contrast to his national party.

Murkowski received crucial support from Ted Stevens, who worked to rescue her campaign and taped advertisements warning Alaskans that electing a Democrat could result in fewer federal dollars for Alaska.[2]

Debates

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[3] Lean D (flip) November 1, 2004

Polling

Poll source[4] Dates administered Murkowski (R) Knowles (D)
KTUU October 4, 2004 45% 48%
KTUU October 18, 2004 45% 47%
McLaughlin October 28, 2004 48% 43%

Results

2004 United States Senate election in Alaska[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Lisa Murkowski (incumbent) 149,773 48.58% −25.91%
Democratic Tony Knowles 140,424 45.55% +25.82%
Independent Marc J. Millican 8,885 2.88%
Independence Jerry Sanders 3,785 1.23%
Green Jim Sykes 3,053 0.99% 2.22%
Libertarian Scott A. Kohlhaas 1,240 0.40% −1.87%
Independent Ted Gianoutsas 732 0.24%
Write-ins 423 0.14%
Majority 9,349 3.03% −51.74%
Turnout 308,315
Republican hold Swing

Boroughs and census areas that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

Notes

  1. ^ In December 2002, Murkowski was appointed by Governor Frank Murkowski (her father) to fill the vacancy caused by Frank Murkowski himself resigning after being sworn in as Governor of Alaska.

References

  1. ^ a b "2004 Primary Election - August 24, 2004 Official Results". State of Alaska. September 14, 2004. Archived from the original on May 20, 2009.
  2. ^ Hulse, Carl (October 31, 2004). "THE 2004 CAMPAIGN: CONTROL OF CONGRESS; Races for House and Senate Have Been Nasty, Expensive and Focused on Local Issues". New York Times. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
  3. ^ "The Final Predictions". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Archived from the original on May 2, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  4. ^ "Polls". RealClear Politics. Archived from the original on June 10, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
  5. ^ Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 2004" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 5, 2007. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
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