Walter Joseph Hickel was an American businessman,real estate developer,and politician who served as the second governor of Alaska from 1966 to 1969 and 1990 to 1994,as well as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1969 to 1970. He worked as a construction worker and eventually became a construction company operator during Alaska's territorial days. Following World War II,Hickel became heavily involved with real estate development,building residential subdivisions,shopping centers and hotels. Hickel entered politics in the 1950s during Alaska's battle for statehood and remained politically active for the rest of his life.
Lisa Ann Murkowski is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator representing Alaska,having held that seat since 2002. She is the first woman to represent Alaska in the Senate and the Senate's second-most senior Republican woman,after Susan Collins of Maine. She became dean of Alaska's congressional delegation upon Representative Don Young's death.
Anthony Carroll Knowles is an American politician and businessman who served as the seventh governor of Alaska from 1994 to 2002. Barred from seeking a third consecutive term as governor in 2002,he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and again for governor in 2006. In September 2008,Knowles became president of the National Energy Policy Institute,a non-profit energy policy organization funded by billionaire George Kaiser's family foundation,and located at the University of Tulsa.
Jay Sterner Hammond was an American politician of the Republican Party,who served as the fourth governor of Alaska from 1974 to 1982. Hammond was born in Troy,New York and served as a Marine Corps fighter pilot in World War II with the Black Sheep Squadron. In 1946,he moved to Alaska where he worked as a bush pilot. Hammond served as a state representative from 1959 to 1965 and as a state senator from 1967 to 1973. From 1972 until 1974 he was the mayor of the Bristol Bay Borough. Then,in 1974,he was elected governor of Alaska.
Loren Dwight Leman is an American politician who served as the eighth lieutenant governor of Alaska,from 2002 to 2006. Before that,he served in both houses of the state legislature,and was elected as the Senate Majority Leader by the end of his term. He served in office in electoral politics from 1989 to 2006. When Leman was elected as lieutenant governor in 2002,he was the first person of Alaska Native ancestry to be elected to statewide office in Alaska. He also has Russian-Polish ancestry.
Benjamin Aavan Stevens was an American politician and political advisor who served as the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Alaska,Mike Dunleavy. He previously served as the President of the Alaska State Senate as a member of the Republican Party. Stevens was the son of the late United States Senator Ted Stevens,who represented Alaska from 1968 to 2009.
Marko Dapcevich is a former mayor of Sitka,Alaska. He is an "Honored Member" of a United Nations group,signed the US Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement,which is part of the Kyoto Protocol,and spoke out against Touchstone Pictures' non-use of Sitka for The Proposal. Dapcevich has testified before the Alaskan state Senate Finance Committee and has run for the Alaska State Legislature,District 2.
The Alaska Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in Alaska,headquartered in Anchorage.
Although in its early years of statehood,Alaska was a Democratic state,since the early 1970s it has been characterized as Republican-leaning. Local political communities have often worked on issues related to land use development,fishing,tourism,and individual rights. Alaska Natives,while organized in and around their communities,have been active within the Native corporations. These have been given ownership over large tracts of land,which require stewardship. The state has an independence movement favoring a vote on secession from the United States,with the Alaskan Independence Party,but its membership has shrunk in recent decades.
Bill P. Wielechowski is an American lawyer serving as a Democratic member of the Alaska Senate representing District K. District K is located in Northeast Anchorage,Alaska. Prior to the 2022 redistricting process,he represented District H from 2013 to 2023. Wielechowski also previously represented District J from 2007 to 2013.
Donald C. "Donny" Olson is an American physician,attorney,commercial pilot,reindeer herder,and politician,currently serving as a member of the Alaska Senate since 2001. Olson represents rural communities in Western Alaska and Arctic Alaska including Nome,Kotzebue,and Utqiagvik.
Lesil Lynn McGuire is an American politician in the state of Alaska. She served as a Republican member of the Alaska Senate from 2007 until 2017,after her tenure as a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 2000 through 2006. She served Senate District N until redistricting in 2012 placed her in District K for 2013.
The 2002 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 5,2002,for the post of Governor of Alaska. Republican U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski defeated Democratic Lieutenant Governor Fran Ulmer. Murkowski became the first Republican elected governor of Alaska since Jay Hammond in 1978.
The 2004 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 2,2004,alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives,various state and local elections,and the presidential election of that year. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Anchorage,sought election to her first full term after being appointed by her father Frank Murkowski to serve out the rest of the latter's unexpired term when he resigned in December 2002 to become Governor of Alaska. Her main challenger was Democratic former governor Tony Knowles,her father's predecessor as governor. Murkowski won by a slight margin. As of 2022,Senator Murkowski’s vote total of 149,773 votes remains the most raw votes she has ever received during any of her runs for the US Senate.
The 2010 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 2,2010,to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Alaska,alongside 33 U.S. Senate elections in other states,elections in all states for the U.S. House of Representatives,as well as various state and local elections. The general election was preceded by primary elections which were held on August 24,2010. Scott McAdams,the Mayor of Sitka,became the Democratic nominee;Joe Miller,an attorney and former federal magistrate,became the Republican nominee after defeating incumbent U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. Miller was endorsed by the Tea Party movement and former Governor Sarah Palin. Murkowski announced that despite her defeat in the primary,she would run in the general election as a write-in candidate.
Catherine Andrea Giessel is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party,she has served as Majority Leader of the Alaska Senate since 2023. From 2013 to 2021,Giessel represented District N in the Alaska Senate,including Northeast Anchorage,Anchorage Hillside and the Turnagain Arm communities of Bird,Girdwood,Indian,and Anchorage,all within the Municipality of Anchorage. First elected in 2010 while identifying with Tea Party values,she has also served as the vice-chair of the state Republican Party and had a career in nursing. Following redistricting,she was elected to a different senate seat in 2012. Giessel serves as chair of the Resources Committee and is a member of the Senate Majority Caucus. After Senate President Pete Kelly was unseated in 2018,Giessel was elected president of the Alaska Senate,a post she held until 2021. Giessel returned to the Alaska Senate in 2023,representing the newly configured District E after defeating incumbent Republican Roger Holland. She serves as Senate majority leader in the 33rd Legislature,overseeing a coalition caucus of eight Republicans and nine Democrats.
The 2014 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 4,2014,to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Alaska,concurrently with the election of Alaska's Class II U.S. Senate seat,as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Kevin Gerald Meyer is an American politician who served as the 14th lieutenant governor of Alaska from 2018 to 2022. He was a Republican member of the Alaska Senate from January 20,2009 to December 3,2018,representing District M. He was president of the Alaska Senate,leading a caucus of 14 Republicans and 1 Democrat from 2015 to 2017. Meyer served in the Alaska Legislature continuously from 2003 to 2018,in both the Alaska House of Representatives and Senate,previously representing the district when it was District O. He works as an investment recovery coordinator for ConocoPhillips.
William Martin Walker is an American attorney and politician who served as the 11th governor of Alaska,from 2014 to 2018. He was the second Alaska-born governor,after William A. Egan.
The 2020 Alaska Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 2020 United States elections. Voters in Alaska elected state senators in 11 of the state's 20 senate districts –the usual ten plus one special election. State senators serve four-year terms in the Alaska Senate,with half seats up for election every two years. Primary elections on August 18,2020,determined which candidates appeared on the general election ballot on November 3,2020.
