2004 United States Senate election in Alaska

2004 United States Senate election in Alaska

← 1998 November 2, 2004 2010 →

Nominee Lisa Murkowski Tony Knowles Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 149,773 140,424 Percentage 48.6% 45.6%

U.S. senator before election Lisa Murkowski Republican Elected U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski Republican

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The 2004 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 2, 2004, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives, various state and local elections, and the presidential election of that year. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Anchorage, sought election to her first full term after being appointed to serve out the rest of her father's unexpired term when he resigned in December 2002 to become Governor of Alaska. Her main challenger was Democratic former governor Tony Knowles, her father's predecessor as governor. Murkowski won by a slight margin.

Background[]

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Although Alaska is heavily Republican, popular opinion had swung against the Murkowski family because of a tax increase passed by Governor Frank Murkowski, Lisa Murkowski's father. In addition, many voters disapproved of apparent nepotism in the appointment of Lisa Murkowski to the Senate. Knowles, who as mentioned above preceded Frank Murkowski as governor, had enlisted extensive out-of-state support for his bid to take over Lisa Murkowski's Senate seat. However, veteran Republican Senator Ted Stevens taped advertisements warning Alaskans that electing a Democrat could result in fewer federal dollars for Alaska.

Democratic primary[]

Candidates[]

• Tony Knowles, businessman, former governor and former mayor of Anchorage
• Theresa Obermeyer, former Anchorage school board member
• Don Wright, former president of the Alaska Federation of Natives and perennial candidate

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%

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%

General election[]

Candidates[]

Major[]

• Tony Knowles, former governor
• Lisa Murkowski (R), incumbent U.S. Senator

Minor[]

• Ted Gianoutsos (I), lobbyist and activist on ANWR and veterans issues
• Scott Kohlhaas (L), party activist and perennial candidate
• Marc Millican (I), aviator, U.S. Air Force veteran
• Jerry Sanders (AI), businessman, former state representative
• Jim Sykes (G), party activist and perennial candidate

Campaign[]

Lisa Murkowski had very low approval ratings as senator due to her father, Frank Murkowski, who at the time was the governor of Alaska with extremely low approval ratings himself. Former governor Tony Knowles ran against Murkowski. He ran as a Democrat who supported drilling in ANWR, in contrast to most Democrats. Ted Stevens tried to "rescue" her campaign and help her maintain her seat.^[2]

Debates[]

• Complete video of debate, October 26, 2004

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%
	Alaskan 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

See also[]

• 2004 United States Senate elections

References[]