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After losing a Republican primary in 2010, Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski – bucking party orthodoxy – ran for re-election with a write-in campaign, and won. That victory, thanks to a diverse coalition of Alaskans, instructed her service as a senator in an increasingly partisan Washington, she writes in her new memoir, “Far From Home: An Alaskan Senator Faces the Extreme Climate of Washington, D.C.” (to be published June 24 by Forum Books).
Read an excerpt below, and don’t miss Norah O’Donnell’s interview with Lisa Murkowski on “CBS Sunday Morning” June 22!
“Far From Home” by Lisa Murkowski
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Introduction
I want to offer hope. The traditional tools of American democracy do still function. I wrote this book to tell the story of one consensus-building senator—grounded in her home, aware of who she serves, and honoring the process—who produced results and won elections. The chapters ahead explain how this happened. I began as president of my sons’ elementary school PTA. That satisfying community leadership encouraged me toward state elected office before I found myself suddenly catapulted to the national stage and challenged by overwhelming responsibilities. My story took a major, positive turn in 2010, after I lost a primary election and voters themselves convinced me that my service was still important, and why. A diverse coalition of Alaskans returned me to the Senate in a write-in campaign, with a mandate to vote my conscience and keep their practical needs foremost, not my party. With their confidence, I became a newly self-directed and more successful senator.
Alaskans’ voices still guide me every day. Independent Alaskans became the largest part of my electoral coalition, and they supported me in thinking for myself, even if they sometimes disagreed with the result. I took that to heart, and followed my own judgment on votes, many times contrary to party leadership. For example, as the Senate process of confirming presidential appointments degenerated, with party-line votes for or against nominees based purely on politics, I chose to prioritize qualifications rather than party. In one of my toughest stands, I was the only Republican to oppose the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. I got heat for these choices, but I believed I was helping the system work as the founders intended. At times, my independence also yielded political benefits, although that had not been my goal. Senators began working for my vote, knowing they couldn’t take it for granted. The White House realized nominees had to be qualified to gain my support.
The system works if we use it. We don’t need an overhaul with drastic reforms (although I will touch on election changes in Alaska that empowered the center and could help elsewhere). The more discouraging message is that being a pro-institution problem solver is hard, and not many of us remain in the Senate. We have passed a lot of good laws, because our swing votes controlled the balance of power, but our team of roughly a dozen senators spread across both parties has been shrinking. Intense pressure weighed on bipartisan lawmakers such as Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, and Mitt Romney. The parties demand conformity, and their loudest voices are also their most extreme and uncompromising. As holdouts for bipartisanship, those of us building consensus brought abuse on ourselves. Now all three of these smart, honorable, productive colleagues have retired from the Senate.
The solution is to keep electing people who want to solve problems. We can do this only one senator—and one voter—at a time. The partisanship and division in our country has come with a loss of community and a weakening in many of the local organizations that connect us. We no longer spend enough time talking to people with different points of view. I’m an example of someone who started out in public service, in our highly diverse neighborhood in Anchorage, learning about families unlike my own while we worked together to improve our children’s lives. We build up American democracy from that community level. It is up to each of us to get involved.
And that brings me to one more reason for this book: We need stories so we can see the possibilities. We need to be able to imagine ourselves in our leaders’ roles. Washington, D.C., should be visible from Newtok and from every community in our country. This is why I’ve chosen to be open about my feelings and my failures as well as my successes. I have no exceptional talent. One reason I legislate with partners is that others have great ideas I would never think of. I know how to bring people together and get things done, but I’m no better than anyone else.
My hope is that when you learn my story, my struggles, and my fears, you will realize that you can do this, too. We need you. Only good people can get our government back on track. We need regular people who care about their communities and are willing to do the work, follow the rules, and think for themselves. We have plenty of ideologues and party-oriented political warriors in Congress. We need more Little League coaches and soccer moms. If I can do it, so can you. In fact, it’s your responsibility.
Excerpted from “Far From Home: An Alaskan Senator Faces the Extreme Climate of Washington, D.C.” Copyright © 2025 by Lisa Murkowski. Used with permission. Published by Forum Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.
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“Far From Home” by Lisa Murkowski
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