Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski (born May 22, 1957 in Ketchikan) is the senior United States Senator from the State of Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She served in the Senate since 2002 and became the senior Senator following Ted Stevens, who served for over forty years, and left office in January 2009 after losing a re-election bid. She is the daughter of former United States Senator and Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski. Elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1998, she was eventually elected House Majority Leader. Appointed to the United States Senate by her father, Frank Murkowski, she took the seat he vacated for the governorship and was sworn in on December 20, 2002. She served the remainder of her father's unexpired term, then ran for and won a full term in 2004. In 2010, her run for a second term, in the Republican primary, lost to Tea Party candidate Joe Miller. So as the incumbent Senator, she then ran as a write-in candidate and defeated both Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams in the general election. Thus, she is the first senator to be elected by write-in vote since Strom Thurmond in 1954.