In 1996, Walter Capps won a seat in US House of Representatives. Less than a year later, he suffered a massive heart attack at Dulles Airport and died in his wife’s arms. Lois Capps, a retired school nurse, decided just a few days later to run for her husband’s seat. She won that election and went on to serve eight more terms in Congress, representing the central coast of California and advocating progressive causes.

In Keeping Faith in Congress, Lois Capps poignantly tells her story–of her husband’s death and her decision to run, of her daughter’s death to cancer just a few years later, of her efforts to work across the aisle, and of her work on behalf of her constituents.

No matter what personal or professional obstacles she faced, Representative Capps never lost faith in democracy. Instead, even the challenges taught her lessons. Now she shares those lessons, hoping that others can be inspired to work on behalf of the common good.