Lisa Murkowski - Definition

Lisa Murkowski (born May 22, 1957) is a Polish-American politician. A Republican, she is currently the junior United States Senator from Alaska.

Born in Ketchikan, Alaska, Murkowski earned a B.A. in economics from Georgetown University in 1980, and a J.D. from Willamette University College of Law in 1985.

She was an attorney in Anchorage, Alaska from 1985 to 1998. She also served, from 1990 to 1991, on the mayor's task force on the homeless.

In 1998, she was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives and had been elected the House Majority Leader for the 2003-2004 session, but she resigned from the House in December 2002, when she was appointed by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski, to his own unexpired senate seat.

She was re-elected to a full six-year term against former Governor Tony Knowles in the 2004 election, after facing a primary challenge due to charges of nepotism. It is likely that the circumstances of her appointment reduced her margin of victory, but they were apparently insufficient to overcome the heavy Republican tilt of Alaska.

External links

• Official Senate Web Site (http://murkowski.senate.gov/)
• Official Campaign Web Site (http://www.lisamurkowski.com/)