The governor paid for his many sins -- the jet, the daughter, the longevity bonus, the stench of too many ethically challenged cronies and appointees -- by suffering one of the worst beatings on record.

He's not just the most unpopular nonindicted governor in the United States anymore.

He's the biggest-losing incumbent governor in Alaska history, one of only two sitting governors to lose a primary bid for re-election and the first to do so without having first been threatened with impeachment.

And he's just the second incumbent governor in 12 years nationwide to lose his party's nomination, and the only one to do so in such overwhelming fashion.

By collecting a paltry 19 percent of the votes in the Republican primary this week, Frank Murkowski prodded pundits across the land to search for the proper words to characterize the bashing.

"Believe me, this is unprecedented,'' said Larry Sabato, a political analyst from the University of Virginia who said he spent a portion of his day Wednesday talking with fellow wonks about Tuesday's election in Alaska.

"Believe me, this is just remarkable, absolutely remarkable,'' he said. "Nineteen percent? It just boggles the mind. And this isn't just anybody; this is somebody who was elected in a landslide.''

Yet the Spank Frank sentiment has been around almost as long as Murkowski has been governor, beginning with the day he bequeathed the U.S. Senate seat he filled for 22 years to his daughter Lisa.

What followed was the laundry list we all know by heart -- the secret negotiations with oil companies; the shortsighted elimination of the longevity bonus for Alaska seniors; the stubborn pursuit of a jet that in recent weeks took Murkowski to all corners of the state for campaign appearances disguised as bill signings; the refusal to rebuke inexcusable behavior by former Attorney General Gregg Renkes and GOP boss Randy Ruedrich.

And yet some, myself included, believed the governor would somehow survive his many missteps and wind up on November's ballot. Alaskans tend to reward incumbents -- in 2004, 34 out of 34 incumbents seeking re-election to state and federal offices triumphed -- and we tend to vote Republican. Add Murkowski's almost full-time pursuit of a gas line that promises to deliver our next boom, and unconventional wisdom said enough Alaskans might be forgiving enough to give the man a second chance.

As if. Sarah Palin, 51 percent. John Binkley, 30 percent. Frank Murkowski, 19 percent.

That 19 percent is one for the record book.

The only other Alaska governor to lose a primary was Bill Sheffield, a Democrat who in 1986 collected 39 percent of the vote against Steve Cowper, who went on to win the general election.

For a bit of perspective in just how humbling Murkowski's defeat was, remember that Sheffield faced impeachment hearings a year before his run for re-election. His term was one of almost perpetual scandal, yet voters didn't embarrass him the way they did Murkowski.

Nationwide, the only other incumbent governor to lose a primary in the last 12 years is Missouri's Bob Holden, who in 2004 earned 45 percent of the votes in that state's Democratic primary.

Holden's liabilities included one shared by Murkowski -- arrogance. He began his term with a million-dollar inauguration party.

Sabato, the go-to political analyst for everyone from Fox News to me, blamed arrogance for Murkowski's undoing.

"What comes through to people is his pure, unadulterated arrogance,'' he said. "This is truly a living, breathing example of hubris. He really is arrogant, and that's so un-Alaska. If there's one thing Alaska isn't, it's arrogant.''

At least Murkowski can take heart in knowing that while Alaskans may not easily forgive, we sometimes forget, which explains, perhaps, how we wound up with a railroad depot named after Bill Sheffield.

Beth Bragg's opinion column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Her e-mail address is bbragg @adn.com.