Alaska Governor Murkowski Comes in Last in Primary
 |
James Joyner | Wednesday, August 23, 2006 |
Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski, whose first act upon taking office was to appoint his daughter to fill out his U.S. Senate term, has been crushed in the Republican primary.
Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski, whose perceived missteps over the past four years have turned him into one of the most unpopular governors in state history, soundly lost his bid for re-election after finishing last in a hotly contested three-way race for the Republican nomination.
[...]
His approval ratings have skidded over the past four years because of much-criticized decisions such as appointing his daughter to his U.S. Senate seat and purchasing a state jet after his request for the aircraft was denied by both the federal government and state Legislature.
It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
Follow James on FriendFeed | Twitter | Digg
- None Found
- Swine flu is more popular than Dodd
- Paradox of Choice Paradoxically Untrue
- Private Forecasters Support Claim That Stimulus Worked
- Entertaining Kids During the Holidays
- How Much Will Escalation Cost?
- No Party of No
- Thought of the Day
- Queer International Studies
- OTB Latenight – r.e.m.
- Krugman on the Debt and Deficits
It's possible Palin could beat Knowles -- after all, Princess Lisa did it two years ago -- but that's not the way I would bet this morning.
Sometimes I wonder if Alaska Republicans have a pathological antipathy toward winning the governorship. Given the way things went in 1990, 1994 and 1998, the 2002 campaign seems like the fluke.
From the polls I have seen, the republican chances of winning the election went up considerably with this primary result.
YAJ, that may be true. I have to admit that I am surprised by the reports of how unpopular Murkowski got to be, especially since the first unpopular act of his governorship -- appointing his daughter to the Senate -- got ratified by voters two years ago.
Apparently a big part of Palin's appeal is that she refuses to accept that a gas line from Prudhoe to Valdez is less workable than one going through Canada.
That may help her win in November, but if voters flock to her based on a promise of rerouting the gas line to Valdez, she may very well end up suffering the same fate in 2010 that Murkowski just suffered in 2006.
Comments are Closed
