2004 United States Senate election in Alaska

none March 2026 September 2023 2004 United States Senate election in Alaska Alaska presidential no 1998 United States Senate election in Alaska 1998 2010 United States Senate election in Alaska 2010 November 2, 2004 x145px Lisa Murkowski.jpg Lisa Murkowski Republican Party (United States) 149,773 48.58% Tony Knowles (D-AK) (cropped).jpg Tony Knowles Democratic Party (United States) 140,424 45.55% 331px Results by borough and census areaMurkowski: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80%Knowles: #A5B0FF 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% U.S. Senator Lisa MurkowskiIn 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. Republican Party (United States) Lisa Murkowski Republican Party (United States) The 2004 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on Tuesday November 2, Republican candidate and Interim United States senator Lisa Murkowski won election to her first full term in office by defeating former governor of Alaska Tony Knowles. Murkowski had been appointed in 2002 by Frank Murkowski, her father and the governor of Alaska. At the time, this was the closest United States Senate election in Alaska history; it has since been surpassed in 2008, 2010 and 2014. The younger Murkowski was the first woman elected to the United States Congress from Alaska. As of 2026, Murkowski’s total vote of 149,773 remains the most she has received in her four campaigns for United States Senate. Despite the resignation of the elder Murkowski, this was not a special election. Alaska was the only state that had vacancy in Senate election already regularly scheduled for 2004. Background February 2010 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.CNN.com 2004 Primaries https://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/senate/alaska.html 2026-07-09 edition.cnn.com 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 Lisa Murkowski (incumbent) Republican Party (United States) 45,710 58.1% Mike Miller Republican Party (United States) 29,313 37.3% Wev Shea Republican Party (United States) 2,857 3.6% Jim Dore Republican Party (United States) 748 0.9% 78,628 100.0% Democratic primary Candidates Tony Knowles, businessman, former governor and former mayor of Anchorage Theresa Obermeyer, former Anchorage school board member and 1996 Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Don Wright, former president of the Alaska Federation of Natives and perennial candidate Results Democratic primary results2004 Primary Election - August 24, 2004 Official Results http://www.elections.alaska.gov/04prim/data/results.htm State of Alaska https://web.archive.org/web/20090520013200/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/04prim/data/results.htm May 20, 2009 September 14, 2004 dead Tony Knowles Democratic Party (United States) 40,881 95.0% Don Wright Democratic Party (United States) 1,080 2.5% Theresa Obermeyer Democratic Party (United States) 1,045 2.4% 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.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 https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DEFDA113DF932A05753C1A9629C8B63 live https://web.archive.org/web/20121108040640/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DEFDA113DF932A05753C1A9629C8B63 November 8, 2012 June 20, 2010 New York Times Debates Complete video of debate, October 26, 2004 Complete video of debate, October 28, 2004 Predictions Source Ranking As of Sabato's Crystal BallThe Final Predictions https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/ljs2004110101/ Sabato's Crystal Ball May 2, 2021 May 2, 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210502174316/https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/ljs2004110101/ live Lean D Flip November 1, 2004 Polling Poll sourcehttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/Presidential_04/ak_polls.html Polls RealClear Politics June 20, 2010 June 10, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100610024617/http://realclearpolitics.com/Presidential_04/ak_polls.html live 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 AlaskaClerk of the U.S. House of Representatives Clerk of the United States House of Representatives Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 2004 https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2004election.pdf November 9, 2022 January 5, 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070105011249/http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2004election.pdf live Republican Party (United States) Lisa Murkowski (incumbent) 149,773 48.58% −25.91% Democratic Party (United States) Tony Knowles 140,424 45.55% +25.82% Independent Marc J. Millican 8,885 2.88% Alaskan Independence Party Jerry Sanders 3,785 1.23% Green Party (United States) Jim Sykes 3,053 0.99% -2.22% Alaska Libertarian Party Scott A. Kohlhaas 1,240 0.40% −1.87% Independent Ted Gianoutsas 732 0.24% Write-ins 423 0.14% 9,349 3.03% −51.74% 308,315 Republican Party (United States) Democratic Party (United States) Boroughs and census areas that flipped from Republican to Democratic Aleutians West Census Area (largest city: Unalaska) Bethel Census Area (largest city: Bethel) Kusilvak Census Area (largest city: Hooper Bay) Nome Census Area (largest city: Nome) Dilingham Census Area (largest city: Dilingham) Lake & Peninsula Borough (largest city: Newhalen) North Slope Borough (largest city: Utqiaġvik) Northwest Arctic Borough (largest city: Kotzebue) Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area (largest city: Craig) Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area (largest city: Fort Yukon) Juneau Sitka Hoonah–Angoon Census Area (largest town: Hoonah) Yakutat Petersburg Skagway Ketchikan Gateway Borough (largest city: Ketchikan) Bristol Bay Borough (largest city: Naknek) See also 2004 United States Senate elections Notes References Senate, U.S. Alaska 2004