Commonwealth North is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization based in Anchorage, Alaska. Founded in 1979, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in Alaska. Membership is open to everyone.
It has more than 350 members and annually hosts more than 25 events on political, cultural, social and economic topics. Proceedings of events including transcripts, audiotapes and PowerPoint presentations are frequently made available on the organization's Web site.
In addition to hosting events and panels, Commonwealth North produces annual study reports and policy reports. The study reports address key issues confronting the state and are intended to assist in their resolution. Some issues are particular to the state, others are of broader regional, national and international interest.
Commonwealth North was founded in 1979 by former Alaskan Governors Walter J. Hickel and the late William A. Egan. Its mission is the nonpartisan study of public affairs. Its bylaws are based on those of the oldest such public affairs forum in the United States, the Commonwealth Club of California.
The organization has hosted numerous world-class speakers including many former United U.S. senators and other major political leaders in the USA and abroad, as well as business leaders and other prominent figures in public and private life. Speakers receive no honoraria.
The organization has an office in Anchorage and the majority of its programs are in Anchorage.
The list of notable speakers and speeches numbers in the hundreds and includes domestic and foreign political and military leaders, Nobel prize-winning scientists, authors, activists, and more.
The purpose of the speakers forum is to afford members a wide range of differing viewpoints that expand Alaskans' perspectives on national and global issues. At the same time, Commonwealth North provides visiting dignitaries an understanding of Alaska: its rich culture, history, resources, values, and potential.
In lieu of honoraria, Commonwealth North provides guest speakers with a first-hand view of Alaska to explore the Prudhoe Bay oil fields in the Arctic and along the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline; fish for halibut or salmon; and view Alaska's wilderness, glaciers, rivers, mountains, and wildlife.
Domestic political speakers have included U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski. Frank Murkowski and Ted Stevens; U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta; [1] the Attorney General for the State of Alaska, David W. Márquez; and the Governor of the Federal Reserve Board, Dr. Edward Gramlich. International political speakers have included the President of Iceland, Dr. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson; Former Prime Minister of New Zealand James Bolger; and the British Columbia Premier, The Hon. Dan Miller. Other recent speakers include Dr. Vernon L. Smith, 2002 Nobel Laureate for Economics, and Robert William Fogel, 1993 Nobel Laureate for Economics.
A number of issues have been studied by Commonwealth North leaders, member committees, or scholars commissioned by Commonwealth North. The issue of the year is decided by the Board of Directors. Among the topics studied have been energy, developing health care and education, rural Alaska and the management of wildlife and land.
The 2007 report, "At A Crossroad: The Permanent Fund, Alaskans, and Alaska's Future", [2] based on a nine-month study, contains suggestions on management and governance of the Alaska Permanent Fund. Other reports have looked at issues including work force development, the relationship between the state and Alaska's North Slope oil producers, and bringing the North Slope gas to market.
Frances Ann "Fran" Ulmer is an American administrator and Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. She served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Alaska from 1994 to 2002 under Governor Tony Knowles, becoming the first woman elected to statewide office in Alaska. She later served as the Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA).
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. He oversaw the creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund in 1976, which, since the early 1980s, has paid annual dividends to Alaska residents. He advocated for fiscal responsibility. When his tenure as governor was over, he continued to be active in public life. He advocated for environmentally and fiscally responsible government and individual civic responsibility. From 1985 to 1992 he hosted a television series called Jay Hammond's Alaska. He wrote three autobiographies.
The Commonwealth Club of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States. Membership is open to everyone.
Mark Peter Begich is an American politician who was a United States Senator from Alaska from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Mayor of Anchorage from 2003 to 2009.
The Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is a New York City-based 501(c)3 public charity serving international affairs professionals, teachers and students, and the attentive public. Founded in 1914, and originally named Church Peace Union, Carnegie Council is an independent and nonpartisan institution, aiming to be the foremost voice of ethics in international affairs. The Council focuses on, Ethics, War and Peace, Global Social Justice, and Religion in Politics as its three main themes. It is separate and independent from all other Carnegie philanthropies.
Political party strength in Alaska has varied over the years. The communities of Juneau, Sitka, downtown and midtown Anchorage, the areas surrounding the College/University of Alaska Fairbanks campus and Ester and the "Alaska Bush" – rural, sparsely populated Alaska – stand out as Democratic strongholds, while the Kenai Peninsula, Matanuska-Susitna Valley, parts of Anchorage, and Fairbanks, Ketchikan, Wrangell, and Petersburg serve as the Republican Party electoral base. As of 2021, over half of all registered voters have chosen "Non-Partisan" or "Undeclared" as their affiliation, despite recent attempts to close primaries.
In 2006, Sarah Palin was elected governor of Alaska. Running on a clean-government platform, Palin defeated incumbent Governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary election in August. She then went on to win the general election in November, defeating former Governor Tony Knowles 48.3% to 40.9%. Her running mate was State Senator Sean Parnell.
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.
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 2010 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Former Governor Sarah Palin did not run, having resigned in July 2009. Incumbent Governor Sean Parnell, who as lieutenant governor succeeded Palin following her resignation, announced that he would seek a full term.
Joseph Wayne Miller is an American attorney and politician. He is best known as the runner-up in both the 2010 United States Senate election in Alaska and the following 2016 election. A member of the Republican Party, he faced Lisa Murkowski in both races, and has aligned himself with the Libertarian Party and Constitution Party.
The 2016 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Alaska, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, 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.
The 2020 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Alaska, concurrently with the nationwide presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan won re-election to a second term in office, defeating Democratic nominee Al Gross, the son of Avrum Gross, who ran as an independent candidate. John Wayne Howe, the nominee of the Alaskan Independence Party, was also on the ballot and finished a distant third.
The 2022 United States Senate election in Alaska will be held on November 8, 2022. Incumbent three-term Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski is running for reelection to a fourth term.
Ermalee Hickel was an American public figure and philanthropist who served as the second and seventh First Lady of Alaska from 1966 to 1969 and again from 1990 to 1994. She was the wife of the former Governor of Alaska Wally Hickel and one of the last members of Alaska's generation of pioneer political families.
Tara MacLean Sweeney is an Iñupiaq American businesswoman and former government official who served as assistant secretary of the interior for Native American affairs from August 2018 to January 2021. Sweeney previously served in Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski's cabinet.
The 2022 Alaska gubernatorial election will take place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next governor of Alaska. Incumbent Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy is running for re-election to a second term. As of 2022, no incumbent Republican has been re-elected to a second term since Jay Hammond in 1978 and no incumbent governor, regardless of political affiliation, has been re-elected to a second term since Tony Knowles in 1998.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska will be held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the U.S. House of Representatives to represent the state of Alaska. Republican U.S. Representative Don Young intended to run for re-election, but died on March 18, 2022. First elected in a 1973 special election following the disappearance of incumbent Nick Begich, Young, the Dean of the U.S. House of Representatives at time of death, was the longest-serving Republican in the history of the U.S. House. Young was reelected in 2020 with 54.4% of the vote, defeating independent Alyse Galvin.
Darlene "Dalee" Sambo Dorough is an Inuit-Alaska advocate for Indigenous rights as well as an expert in international human rights law, international relations, and Alaska Native rights. Dorough was part of the Alaskan tribal sovereignty movement for decades and served on the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2011 to 2016. In 2018 she was elected Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, representing the 180,000 Inuit, Yupik, and Chukchi peoples in the Russian Far East, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland.
The 2022 Alaska's at-large congressional district special election is an upcoming special election. The seat became vacant when incumbent Republican representative Don Young died on March 18, 2022, on a flight home. A special primary election was held on June 11, while the general election is to be held alongside the regular primary election on August 16. The filing deadline was on April 1. This will be the first election to use the state's new voting system, in which all candidates compete in a single blanket primary, with the top four candidates advancing to a general election that uses ranked-choice voting.