Murkowski was appointed to the position by her father, Gov. Frank Murkowski, on Friday, leaving open her House seat representing District 18.

In addition to picking his successor to the U.S. Senate, Gov. Murkowski will pick his daughter's replacement in the state House of Representatives, where she was recently chosen to serve as majority leader.

Three potential replacements will be submitted to Gov. Murkowski by a district committee made up of about eight Republicans from precincts within the district.

"I'm sure they will be looking at someone who is re-electable and someone who represents the interests of the district," said Alaska Republican Party chairman Randy Ruedrich.

Ruedrich said the party began running advertisements in the Anchorage Daily News on Saturday calling on legislative hopefuls to submit résumés to the district committee by this Friday.

Ruedrich said the committee already has received letters of interest from about seven applicants.

Nancy Dahlstrom, Sen. Lisa Murkowski's rival in the August primary election, has expressed interest in the position, Ruedrich said.

Dan Kendall, an Anchorage Assembly member, and Laura Achee, a legislative staffer for outgoing Rep. Joe Green, an Anchorage Republican, also have thrown their hats in the ring.

Pete Kott, the incoming speaker of the House, named Rep. Eldon Mulder as another possible candidate.

Mulder would have faced Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary because of redistricting this year, but decided not to run for the spot.

"If Eldon ends up being the person, he might end up the majority leader, or he could go back to the Finance Committee," Kott said in a recent interview with the Empire. "I would suspect that he would go back to be the co-chair of finance, which is a more powerful position."

Kott also listed Robin Phillips, House Speaker Gail Phillips' daughter, and Matt Gill, a legislative staffer for Mulder, as possible candidates for the job.

Ruedrich said the district committee will meet Monday to review the applications and make a decision on whom to recommend to Gov. Murkowski.

"I have not talked to Gov. Murkowski, but I expect that this will be a fairly swift decision," Ruedrich said.

Timothy Inklebarger can be reached at timothyi@juneauempire.com.