Lisa Murkowski

As the three-way race for U.S. Senate enters its first full week, Joe Miller, Lisa Murkowski and Scott McAdams are trying to build support for the November election. A change has been announced in the Murkowski campaign, a new campaign director. According to the Murkowski campaign, Kevin Sweeney will take over for John Bitney, who will be involved in community outreach until November. Monday night, the Murkowski campaign said the change reflects the entirely different campaign they'll be running.

Alaskan U.S. Senators Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski are asking the FDA for an extension on the public comment period for the FDA's Environmental Assessment (EA) of so-called "frankenfish". The fish in question are genetically modified, farm-raised salmon engineered by AquaBounty Technologies .  They are designed to reach marketable size considerably faster than natural salmon through manipulation of the fish's genes. The FDA's assessment resulted in a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)

All three U.S. Senate candidates debated the issues at the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce Monday meeting. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Joe Miller and Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams answered questions for about an hour. Five hundred people listened as the three gave their stance on several subjects including federal spending, the war in Afghanistan and which U.S. Senator they admire the most. Murkowski said Ted Stevens and the names of some democrats she has worked with. McAdams said Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, which was met with applause.

by Brian Mooar Tuesday, January 6, 2009 WASHINGTON -- Former Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich claimed his seat in the United States Senate on Tuesday, taking the oath of office with the other freshmen and re-elected senators. From the swearing in with Vice President Dick Cheney to the moment he found the desk with his own name plate, Sen. Begich described the day as an amazing, emotional experience. After the ceremony he received a rousing welcome at a Capitol Hill reception.

State lawmakers are starting the process of looking into election law changes that more than one judge said are necessary in the wake of the disputed Miller-Murkowski race. The Senate held its first hearing on the matter this morning in Juneau. Senators who've signed onto a plan to clarify Alaska election law say the past few months were a wake-up call. “All of us went through that debacle of that election and I felt strongly that there had to be some changes made,” said Sen. Linda Menard (R-Wasilla)

The U.S. Senate has passed a defense funding bill one day after the House did so, sending several provisions that affect Alaska's military forces to President Obama's desk to be signed into law. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich's offices say the “conference report” version of the National Defense Authorization Act, adopted after a House-Senate conference to resolve differences between the two chambers' bills, was approved Friday on an 81-14 vote. Both Murkowski and Begich had inserted language into the bill meant to delay or block the Air Force's planned transfer of the 18th Aggressor Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

There are four days left for the Alaska Legislature to finish its work this session. With a plan to cut oil taxes stalled, lawmakers are now focusing on other bills, like a measure to change election law in the wake of the disputed 2010 U.S. Senate race between Joe Miller and Lisa Murkowski. The House approved a plan Wednesday, that would allow misspellings and abbreviations on write-in ballots where voter intent is clear. The bill (SB 31) also declares that it's up to the Division of Elections director to make the call on whether or not a ballot is valid.

Eight Arctic nations moved from conflict to cooperation this week at an Arctic Council meeting in Nuuk, Greenland. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who attended the meeting, says there is widespread agreement that more needs to be done to combat climate change and its threat to Arctic peoples. Murkowski was part of the United States’ delegation, which also included U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. "I think the significance of this particular council meeting," said Murkowski, "is that for the first time ever, you had not only one cabinet member but two cabinet members.

Debt negotiations may be over after Sunday's accord on a federal debt-ceiling deal, but Alaskans are not over their feelings of frustration and anger toward the federal government's top officials. "I think that they need to get their act together," said Anchorage resident Steven Tucker. Democrats, Republicans and the White House came to an agreement Sunday evening, just two days before the Aug. 2 deadline to avoid a default on the nation's debt.   "I'm extremely pessimistic about the whole thing," said Anchorage resident Ryan Kennedy.

by Ashton Goodell and Rebecca Palsha Wednesday, February 4, 2009 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate are pushing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill to create jobs. While Sen. Mark Begich supports the bill with a few amendments, Sen. Lisa Murkowski says the bill won't do what's intended as it stands. "When you look where you can really make a difference, where those jobs are shovel-ready, they're in infrastructure right now," Murkowski said.