Kentucky New Era Newspaper Article

Author sets stage for change in nation’s capital 

By TONYA S. GRACE NEW ERA STAFF WRITER 
Aug 23, 2017 Updated Aug 24, 2017

Disillusioned by politics, Leslie Sorrell, a Bowling Green native who was once an intern in Congressman Ed Whitfield’s office, left all that behind but has recently written a book about her experiences. 

 “I was heartbroken and walked away from it all and moved to Belize,” said Sorrell, who will debut her new book during a program at 5 this afternoon at the Hopkinsville-Christian County Public Library.

Sorrell said copies of the book, “From Clients to Crooks: An Insider Reveals the Real Washington D.C.,” are available downtown at Books on Main as well as at locations including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million. The book is available in both hard copy and digital formats.

Sorrell said she was disheartened during her years in Washington to work with people before they were household names, help them get elected to Congress and watch them become slick politicians.

“The problem is not that good people run for office,” she said. “But that system incentivizes corruption, and they fall victim to it. The problem is that people stay in office, and there are no incentives to do good so they start self-serving, putting the party first and not the American people.”

Sorrell said she originally wrote her book “to kind of heal myself from my experiences in politics,” but she said she now hopes readers will learn from it and find out how they can make a difference.

She wants them to be encouraged to change the way things are in the political system.

Sorrell, who grew up in Hopkinsville, worked as an intern for Whitfield’s 1st District congressional office in the late 1990s and also worked with former Congressman Ron Lewis of Kentucky’s 2nd District and with former Texas Congressman Larry Cambest.

At age 28, she started a consulting firm and served several clients through that firm. During the 2008 campaign, she worked with former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, serving as a regional director for the southwest region.
Sorrell said she focused mostly on the realm of national politics during her time in politics.

She describes her recently-released book as a political memoir and as a tell-all that names the names of those good guys who succumbed to the political system; she says she will share an overview of the book for those attending this afternoon’s program and answer questions during a Q&A.

Sorrell now lives in Hopkins, Belize, in Central America, where she owns the Hopkins Inn, a bed and breakfast, with her husband. The two are also in the process of building a creamery where they will make fresh cheese and ice cream.

Sorrell said she believes her connections to Hopkinsville and being from a small rural town in Kentucky, have set her apart, given her a bigger learning curve and helped her be successful.

“I always knew where I was from,” she said. “And, I had a (sense of) what I believed was right and wrong. I had great parents and a good support system. I already had those values set.”

For more information about Sorrell and her book, visit www.clientstocrooks.com.  
REACH TONYA S. GRACE at 270-887-3240
or at tgrace@kentuckynewera.com.
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