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Sen. Lisa Murkowski

Senator for Alaska

pronounced LEE-suh // mer-KOW-skee

Murkowski is the senior senator from Alaska and is a Republican. She has served since Jan 7, 2003. Murkowski is next up for reelection in 2028 and serves until Jan 3, 2029. She is 67 years old.

Photo of Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R-AK]

Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Murkowski is shown as a purple triangle in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills legislators have sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Nov 21, 2024. See full analysis methodology.

Committee Membership

Lisa Murkowski sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Murkowski was the primary sponsor of 44 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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Does 44 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Murkowski sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Native Americans (33%) Health (20%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (11%) Energy (9%) Taxation (8%) Transportation and Public Works (7%) Armed Forces and National Security (6%) Education (5%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Murkowski recently introduced the following legislation:

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Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Murkowski voted Nay

Motion Agreed to 87/12 on Dec 18, 2018.

This bill became the vehicle for passage of the FIRST Step Act, the Senate's criminal justice reform bill. The text of this bill was replaced …

Murkowski voted Nay

Conference Report Agreed to 87/13 on Dec 11, 2018.

See the Congressional Research Service's 122-page summary of the bill. * * * H.R. 2 amends and extends major programs for income support, food and …

Murkowski voted Yea

Bill Passed 72/26 on Sep 28, 2016.

The Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika Response and Preparedness Act (H.R. 5325) is an appropriations …

Murkowski voted Yea

Joint Resolution Passed 78/22 on Sep 18, 2014.

Murkowski voted Yea

Motion Agreed to 81/19 on Dec 15, 2010.

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Pub.L. 111–312, H.R. 4853, 124 Stat. 3296, enacted December 17, 2010), also known …

Murkowski voted Nay

Veto Overridden 80/14 on Jun 18, 2008.

Missed Votes

From Jan 2003 to Nov 2024, Murkowski missed 361 of 7,229 roll call votes, which is 5.0%. This is worse than the median of 3.0% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: