Lisa Murkowski, US Senator (R-AK)

Lisa Ann Murkowski (born May 22, 1957) is the senior United States Senator from the State of Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski. After losing a Republican primary in 2010, she became only the third person ever to win a United States Senate election through write-in votes.

Born in Ketchikan, she is the daughter of former United States Senator and Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski. She received her B.A. from Georgetown University and her J.D. from Willamette University College of Law. After working as an attorney, she was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1998 and was eventually elected House Majority Leader.

Murkowski was appointed to the United States Senate in 2002 and elected to a full term in 2004. Her 2010 re-election grew turbulent when former magistrate judge Joe Miller defeated her in the Republican primary. Murkowski mounted a longshot write-in campaign, winning the general election; the campaign made national headlines.

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