“Most people don’t ask, ‘For or against?’ They just say, ‘Make sure you’re taking care of our interests.’ In fairness for those that do the ‘for or against,’ everybody is pretty much saying they don’t think this is good for us.”
— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), quoted by the Alaska Dispatch News, on the GOP health care bill.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is calling for a “go-slow” approach to developing a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, the Juneau Empire reports.
Said Murkowski: “There are some who are very interested in moving it as quickly as possible to ‘get it behind us.’ I don’t think that’s the responsible path. I want to get right rather than get it behind us, and that’s going to take time.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) both said that they will not support Betsy DeVos to be President Trump’s Education secretary pick, The Hill reports.
“If all of the Senate’s Democrats vote against DeVos, she would have 50 votes if the remaining Republicans backed her — with Vice President Mike Pence potentially breaking the tie. No Democrats have backed DeVos.”
Politico: “Republican leaders had been planning to bring either DeVos or Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions to the floor for a confirmation vote later this week. If Sessions is confirmed, Republicans may need to swear in a new senator from Alabama in order to be able to confirm DeVos.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said the presidential race is creating uncertainty for down-ballot races like hers that she hasn’t experienced before, the AP reports.
“Murkowski lost her 2010 primary to Joe Miller but won an improbable general election write-in campaign to retain her seat. This year is different than any of her past races, though, because of the uncertainty injected by the presidential race, she said.”
“Alaska’s two U.S. senators resigned leadership posts in the state Republican party after denouncing GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and saying he should step aside,” the AP reports.
“Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan voluntarily resigned over the weekend as honorary members of the party’s state central committee.”
Two-time U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller said he will try again to unseat Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) by replacing Cean Stevens as the Libertarian candidate on the Nov. 8 general election ballot, the Alaska Dispatch News reports.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told the AP that said she does not know if she will vote for Donald Trump this fall.
“Murkowski said she has not endorsed Trump and will continue to speak out on issues where they disagree. She said that she has time to decide how she will vote in the November election.”
Former Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan (R) filed to face Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in the Republican primary moments before the candidate deadline Wednesday, the Alaska Dispatch News reports.
“Sullivan, who faced a term limit when he left the top city office after six years last year, was a surprise candidate when he showed up at the state elections office about 10 minutes before the doors closed at 5 p.m.”
“I think you never say never in politics.”
— Former Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), quoted by Politico, when asked whether he’d run against Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in 2016.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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