Murkowski endorses Romney

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Saturday endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) for president.

Her backing comes just three days before the Alaska caucus scheduled for Feb. 5 and makes her the seventh Republican senator to support Romney over Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

{mosads}“Governor Romney is the proven executive that Alaskans and all Americans need in the White House,” said Murkowski. “At this time of economic uncertainty, we need a leader who actually understands how the economy works and why jobs are created. That leader is Mitt Romney.”

Murkowski cited Romney’s support for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

McCain, the GOP presidential frontrunner, opposes drilling in the wildlife refuge.

In a townhall-style meeting with New Hampshire voters in December, McCain compared the Alaska proposal to drilling in the Grand Canyon and the Everglades.

“I believe ANWR is one of the pristine areas of the world,” said McCain, using the refuge’s acronym.

Romney embraced Murkowski’s decision and voiced his support for expanding domestic energy production.

“Senator Murkowski has been a strong voice in the United States Senate for confronting the long-term economic challenges confronting her state and our nation today,” said Romney in a statement. “She understands the importance of making our country independent of foreign oil and recognizes we can do that by developing more sources of domestic energy.”

Romney supports dramatically increasing federal spending on research to diversify the national energy supply and improve efficiency. He also favors accelerated construction of new nuclear plants.

Thirteen senators have endorsed McCain, according to a tally kept by The Hill. Former Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.), who served as assistant majority leader under former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), announced his formal support of McCain Saturday.