Father's Day for the Senate's ‘Legacy Caucus’

Senators Murkowski
(Republicans - Alaska)
Frank Murkowski (1981-2002) and his daughter Lisa Murkowski (2002-Present)
Lisa Murkowski remembers clearly the first time she came to Washington. It was as a high school intern in Alaska Senator Ted Stevens' office, in the summer of 1975. "One of the highlights of my internship was riding in the same elevator as Senator (Ted) Kennedy, and it was just a huge deal to be in such close proximity to another senator," she says. But the Republican lawmaker quickly follows that memory with a laugh, noting, "Now I don't have those same feelings riding the elevator with Ted Kennedy."

The dinner table in the Murkowski household was a forum for discussion and debate on different issues ranging from business questions to politics, and she was taught, by her father, at an early age that "no matter how old you were, you had an opinion that mattered, and you were encouraged to voice your opinion." She notes that her family still has great political debates when they're out at duck camp, sitting by the fire at night.

Lisa remembers her father's advice to "Be a leader, not a sheep," which instilled in her an expectation to be her own person. After working years as an attorney, she successfully ran for state representative in 1998, and served until 2002, when Frank appointed her to the remainder of his Senate term just a couple weeks after he was sworn in as governor. Her father's appointment stirred calls of "nepotism," and she says now that she "might have underestimated the strength of objection" by some. But she discussed the controversy early on, after taking office and throughout her campaign in 2004, and was elected. To date, she's the only daughter of a U.S. senator to follow her father into the Senate.

In that election she and her father did not make many public appearances together, and while she says "there was not a concerted strategy to keep him out of the picture" she acknowledges that "it was important for people to assess me, to figure out who Lisa Murkowski was" and she made an effort to make her campaign "very independent."

As for differences between herself and her father, she says, "I have a very different style than my father… My mother is a very gracious woman, and a very tolerant woman. And my father is a much more abrupt, direct individual. And I like to think that I have been able to meld something from each of them. I'm not afraid to express my opinions, but I don't do it in a confrontational manner." She says that while Frank Murkowski can come off as grumpy and tough, "he's probably one of the kindest and most gentle people" she knows. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-CT, once told her how he enjoyed traveling with her father, and on one occasion remembers him helping pick out tablecloths for his wife Hadassah. One of her fondest memories is of her father bringing her down to the water and turning over a rock and showing her all the amazing life underneath.  She says, "he is still turning over rocks" for her.

Frank Murkowski announced last month that he would run for re-election as governor and later that afternoon she explained she would be "supportive" of him. While she typically stays out of Republican primaries, she says it was obvious "where my allegiances lie." When the fact that President Ronald Reagan did not publicly endorse his daughter, Maureen's, Senate run in 1982 was mentioned, Lisa responded, "My father did that to me," explaining that, in her campaign for state representative, she had a primary battle so she didn't even ask her father for his endorsement and they later had a conversation in which he told her it was a "good thing" she hadn't asked because he stayed out of primaries.

As for the political ambitions of her two teenage boys: "They have absolutely, positively made it clear that they have no interest in joining the Senate, because the hours are crazy and you know you can't control your schedule.  They see how it affects the home life in terms of scheduling." But, she notes, they wouldn't mind being governor because they can live in Alaska and the governor (currently their grandfather) has a really nice house.

Asked if she and her father have any Father's Day traditions, she says they don't, but they did have a Mother's Day tradition growing up - because of the season, after church each Mother's Day, they would haul manure for hours upon hours.

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