AP: Gov. Murkowski Concedes Defeat in Alaska

[Eugene]

Gov. Murkowski Concedes Defeat in Alaska
Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski concedes race for second term in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Aug. 23, 2006
By MATT VOLZ Associated Press Writer

(AP) Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski, stung by accusations of arrogance
and stubbornness, lost his bid for a second term Tuesday after polling last
in a three-way GOP primary.

Sarah Palin, a former Wasilla mayor won the Republican nomination for governor
after holding steady with about 50 percent of the vote through most of the night.
Murkowski polled just 19 percent.

-snip-

Tony Knowles, a former two-term governor, won the race to be the Democratic
nominee for governor in the Nov. 7 general election. He beat state Rep. Eric Croft.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/23/ap/politics/mainD8JM0L4O0.shtml

[Broken_Hero]

1. Go Tony!

I got a letter of appreciation from Tony Knowles when I graduated high school...I know he didn't sign it, but rubber stamped it, but still...

:) And YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Murkowski...good, BYE!...:P

[Beausoleil]

13. I got to meet Tony, once.

At the opening of the Seward Sealife Center. I had my Dallas Cowboys ball cap on and after I shook the governor's hand his aide said to me, "the Governor is a big Cowboys fan". Murkowski was at the same event, but didn't really mix with the crowd like Tony did.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Arrogance and Stubborness" How totally republicon

They are out for themselves and their imagined "elite" and against the interests of the people of Alaska and the USA>

[AlinPA]

12. He is the perfect republican: arrogant, snotty with all the usual ugliness

in his talk and behavior.

[goclark]

25. Fits right in the RepubliCON picture nt

[saltpoint]

3. No one I know will mourn the loss of Frank Murkowski from political life.

All good vibes to Tony Knowles versus Palin in Nov., and next cycle, let's replace Frank's Senator daughter with a Democrat as well.

[Broken_Hero]

4. Lisa...bleh...

saw her spewing crap on cspan a few weeks ago, about drilling on anwr...

"Oh its safe, its environmentally friendly, I promise!"-Lisa M...

Alaska-yeah, right, we still remember Exxon spill, and what..BP has a leak in their pipeline? Oh yeah, safe and environmentally sound my rear end...

[saltpoint]

6. Exactly. What could be safer than a corroding pipeline?

The fewer Murkowskis we have in government, the better.

[zbdent]

7. and BP whined that the Government didn't force them to inspect

the pipelines! Gee, they bitch about government's "heavy-handed Big Brother" methods, and then they use the excuse that they weren't told to do something!

:silly:

[stepnw1f]

10. Oh That's Just Grand Ain't It

They always love govt when it's convenient.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Who won't miss knowing Republican Frank Murkowski is on the job?

Hand-off: Gov. Frank Murkowski, right, congratulates his daughter state Rep. Lisa Murkowski, an Anchorage Republican, after he appointed her to his U.S. Senate seat today in Anchorage. Frank Murkowski resigned from the Senate seat when he was sworn in as governor Dec. 2.
AL GRILLO/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

This heroic man has bravely led the way to reopen aerial wolf hunting to the public in Alaska, god bless his manly heart, as well as working tirelessly to invade and exploit the one and only ANWR.

It may take the world decades to heal itself after the Great Murkowski has passed away and can't be here to savage our earth and its helpless creatures any longer.

[Blue_In_AK]

22. He tried to completely undo all the good things about Alaska's

government. Before Frank we had one of the strongest campaign finance laws in the country - he dismantled it. (But we voted to reinstate it yesterday.) He abolished the senior longevity bonus that many of Alaska's elderly depended on. He continued aerial wolf hunts, even though Alaskans consistently vote against them. He used government money to buy a jet after being told no by Homeland Security and our legislature. He has been (and continues to) bully the legislature into accepting his tax/gas pipeline deal with Big Oil. He's already called them back for three special sessions and threatens another one before he leaves office. The Lisa debacle ... the list goes on and on. Alaskans aren't stupid. Fool us once, shame on -- shame on you -- fool you ... whatever. We won't get fooled again.

[Bandit]

26. Alaskans aren't stupid.

Well that is debatable.. I watched the debates between Murkowski and Ulmer and Murkowski's performance was embarrassing. All Pie in the Sky with no nothing there. Ulmer was very concise on exactly what she would do and how and yet Murkowski won the election. It was to say the least shocking at how stupid Alaskans were. Murkowski proved from the very beginning he was not competent to govern. One reason he became the second least popular Governor in the nation..

[Blue_In_AK]

27. Maybe I should have said

Alaskans are wising up. The results of this election were refreshing, as not only Frank but many other old-line Republican congressional incumbents didn't win their primaries. I'm not sure how Frank won in 2002 ... maybe Fran was Diebolded.

[formercia]

8. Had enough yet?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060823/ap_on_el_ge/primary_elections

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - 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.

[MaineDem]

9. Excellent!

That's a major loss for Frank. Wow!

How good are Knowles' chances now?

[Blue_In_AK]

23. See my post below...

My guess is it will be tight.

[sleipnir]

11. Shit. Actually, this REALLY sucks.

Tony is in for a fight now, damn, I wish Mr. Nepotism Murkowski had won the race. Knowles was polling a double digit lead against him. IIRC, from the polls I saw, Knowles is now down by double digits to Palin. We'll just have to see how this one plays out.

But, Alaska just went from a sure pick up for us, to a possible loss.

[rrasile]

14. Gov. Frank Murkowski

Are we seeing the trend of long termed politicians getting the boot by their own parties.
I know he had some bad things going for him but hell all politicians are stupid.
Let's see a state jet for his personal use is a start.
He spent much of his political career supporting the oil industry and made his agreement for a $20 billion gas pipeline the cornerstone of his campaign. Then setting terms for taxes, royalties, state investment and regulation of the massive gas project, estimated to cost over $20 billion.
Critics said it made too many financial and regulatory concessions to BP, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, and that certain provisions, such as a promised freeze to oil taxes that has to be unconstitutional.
How about when he appointed his daughter to fill out his U.S. Senate term.
If this trend continues we have to change our attack and use the fact that the voters are turning away from "The apologists in Congress and Government" because they see what they ended up with.
It is time for big changes and which ever party looks like a changer will come out the winner.

[Blue_In_AK]

24. The reason Sarah Palin won

is that she is a true populist maverick candidate who has been calling out Alaska's Republican party insiders for their ethics violations for the past several years. People here are tired of the "good old boys."

[harpboy_ak]

28. They both have to worry about Halcro now

Andrew Halcro also was critical of Murkowski and his administration's ethics problems. When he was in the Legislature, he was one of the few mavericks in the Repug caucus, and ran into problems when he voted his conscience rather than the caucus lockstep.

When I testified on a bill before his committee, he seemed to be thoughtful and truly interested in hearing all the suggestions and comments possible. After he decided not to run for a third term in the House, I ran into him at the grocery and told him that he was in the wrong party. He said he wanted to stay involved in public service but that he just didn't want to deal with the current Alaska R party leadership.

Then he wrote a column for several years in the Anchorage Daily Snooze, decrying some of the idiocy and all of the malfeasance of the Murkowski administration & Repug legislators. He was the first candidate on TV this year, with his creative "Stop Me!" spot to build name recognition before the public's mind was clogged with primary attack ads.

He's a fiscally conservative moderate, and he's not a doctrinaire religious right winger like Palin and he's not Tony Knowles. He's a good speaker and debater. He's the one that Sarah and Tony both have to worry about. If he can convince folks that he'd be another independent governor like Jay Hammond, he could beat both of them. He's got 76 days to do it.

[Blue_In_AK]

29. I've always liked Andrew Halcro

I don't know him, but I've been paying attention to him over the years, and he does seem to be a reasonable, moderate voice. I wish he'd come all the way out and declare as a Democrat, but at least he's "sort of" denouncing his Republicanism. We could definitely use someone in the style of Jay Hammond these days, that's for sure. I never really thought of him as a Republican. He was an Alaskan, first and foremost.

[samsingh]

15. wonder how the winners stack up against each other?

[htuttle]

16. It's been a rough primary season for incumbants.

Good.

[IChing]

17. Alaska Governor Concedes Defeat in Primary

ANCHORAGE, Aug. 23 - Gov. Frank Murkowski, who gave up a seat in the United States Senate to run for governor four years ago and has encountered nearly constant political trouble ever since, appeared headed to a resounding defeat this morning in his bid for a second term.

Race Profile:
Alaska Governor

2006 Election Guide
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Also in the Guide
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With 87 percent of precincts reporting, Mr. Murkowski had won less than 20 percent of the vote in a three-way Republican primary, placing a distant third to two challengers. Sarah Palin, the former mayor of a small town who has never held statewide office, was leading with 51 percent of the vote.

As the results began coming in Tuesday night, Gov. Murkowski told his supporters he would endorse Ms. Palin in the general election.>>>>snip

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/washington/24alaskacnd.html?ex=1313985600&en=45b5420ee62be74e&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

sorry if it a repost

[mike_c]

18. I salute him for having the class to concede and support the winner....

:patriot:

[babylonsister]

19. Does anyone know how well-liked Tony Knowles is? nt

[Blue_In_AK]

20. Tony is very well-liked here.

He was the mayor of Anchorage for two terms and went on to serve two terms as governor 1992-2000. Sarah Palin will give him a run for his money, I suspect, because she is a populist maverick (a "real" maverick, not a John McCain maverick) who has been bucking the Republican establishment here for the past several years, calling them out repeatedly on their ethical challenges. Also, she is quite pretty and has a spunky, pleasant personality.

My guess is that a lot of independents here voted in the Republican primary just to assure that Frank would not be running. I think there will be a lot of early fascination with Sarah but that as time goes along in the campaign people will think twice and realize that Tony has far more experience and maturity than she does, and she will be defeated in a tight race.

Sarah is a breath of fresh air in the Alaska Republican party, but she's still a Republican. Also her anti-abortion positions will probably not go over too well here -- Alaska is a strongly pro-choice state. Even Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens are pro-choice.

Sarah Palin


Tony Knowles and Ethan Berkowitz (Guv Lite nom)

[babylonsister]

21. Good to hear-thanks! nt

[sofa king]

30. Very nice.

I think at this point his daughter is the lesser of the two evils in the Senate, thanks to being slightly less abrasive and a whole helluva lot less senior. Now Frank's out of a job. And all Alaska had to do was take one for the team.

Thanks, Alaskans! Please don't vote for another Republican. The terraists don't even know you exist.

[Nutmegger]

31. He's not going to throw a hissy-fit and run as an Independent?

Huh? He isn't?? :shrug:

[Blue_In_AK]

32. No, he was really very gracious in conceding.

(Unlike some other people we know of.) We are going to have a very interesting race up here this year. We'll keep you advised.