Mark Peter Begich is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from Alaska from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party,he served as mayor of Anchorage from 2003 to 2009.
Ethan Avram Berkowitz is an American attorney,businessman,and politician from Alaska. From 1997 to 2007 he was the Alaska State Representative for District 26,serving as the Democratic Party Minority Leader from 1999 to 2007. He was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2006,for Alaska's at-large congressional district in 2008,and for governor in 2010. He was elected mayor of Anchorage in 2015,and reelected in 2018. Berkowitz resigned as mayor of Anchorage in October 2020 after admitting to being in a "consensual,inappropriate messaging relationship" with a reporter.
Mark Rankin Herring is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Attorney General of Virginia from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat,he previously served in the Senate of Virginia since a 2006 special election,representing the 33rd district,made up of parts of Fairfax and Loudoun counties. In 2021,Herring lost re-election for a third term to Republican challenger Jason Miyares.
Ballot Measure 2 of 1998 is a ballot measure,since ruled unconstitutional,that added an amendment to the Alaska Constitution that prohibited the recognition of same-sex marriage in Alaska. The Ballot measure was sparked by the lawsuit filed by Jay Brause and Gene Dugan,after the two men were denied a marriage license by the Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics. In Brause v. Bureau of Vital Statistics, 1998 WL 88743,the Alaska Superior Court ruled that the state needed compelling reason to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples and ordered a trial on the question. In response,the Alaska Legislature immediately proposed and passed Resolution 42,which became what is now known as Ballot Measure 2. Ballot Measure 2 passed via public referendum on November 3,1998,with 68% of voters supporting and 32% opposing. The Bause case was dismissed following the passage of the ballot measure.
Sean Randall Parnell is an American attorney and politician who was the tenth governor of Alaska from 2009 to 2014. He succeeded Sarah Palin in July 2009,and was elected governor in his own right in 2010 with 59.06% of the vote,as the largest percentage margin of any Alaska governor since statehood. In 2014,he narrowly lost his bid for re-election and returned to work in the private sector. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Hollis S. French II is an American attorney,businessman and politician. He served in the Alaska Senate from 2003 to 2015. He was minority leader from January 2014 until he left office. During this time,French authored an unsuccessful bill to strike down the state's same-sex marriage ban. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Byron Ivar Mallott was an American politician,elder,tribal activist,and business executive from the state of Alaska. Mallott was an Alaska Native leader of Tlingit heritage and the leader of the Kwaash KéKwaan clan. He was the 12th lieutenant governor of Alaska from December 2014 until his resignation on October 16,2018. He also previously served as the mayor of Yakutat,the mayor of Juneau,the president of the Alaska Federation of Natives and the executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund.
Walter Carleton Monegan III is an American politician and the former Police Chief of Anchorage,Alaska,and later Commissioner of Public Safety for the state of Alaska. His dismissal in July 2008 by Alaska governor Sarah Palin drew considerable attention,particularly in the wake of Palin's selection as the Vice-Presidential nominee of the Republican Party the following month. Monegan accused Palin of not telling the truth about the reasons for his dismissal.
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.
Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Alaska since October 12,2014,with an interruption from October 15 to 17 while state officials sought without success to delay the implementation of a federal court ruling. The U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska held on October 12 in the case of Hamby v. Parnell that Alaska's statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution. On October 15,state officials obtained a two-day stay from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals,which the U.S. Supreme Court refused to extend on October 17. Although Alaska is one of a few states which enforces a three-day waiting period between requesting a marriage license and conducting a marriage ceremony,at least one same-sex couple had the waiting period waived immediately after the district court's ruling. They married in Utqiagvik on October 13 and were the first same-sex couple to marry in Alaska.
The 2014 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 4,2014,to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Alaska,concurrently with the election of the governor of Alaska,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.
Alaska Dispatch was a news organization founded in 2008 and based in Anchorage,Alaska. It was originally an online news outlet focusing on statewide coverage of the U.S. state of Alaska,and on circumpolar affairs and policy.
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.
Michael James Dunleavy is an American educator and politician serving since 2018 as the 12th governor of Alaska. A Republican,he was a member of the Alaska Senate from 2013 to 2018. He defeated former U.S. senator Mark Begich in the 2018 gubernatorial election after incumbent governor Bill Walker dropped out of the race. He was reelected in 2022.
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 2016 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska was held on November 8,2016,to elect the U.S. representative from Alaska's at-large congressional district,who will represent the state of Alaska in the 114th United States Congress. The election coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election,as well as other elections to the House of Representatives,elections in the United States Senate,and various state and local elections.
Jahna Lindemuth is an American attorney who served as the 31st Alaska Attorney General. Lindemuth was appointed by Alaska Governor Bill Walker on June 28,2016,following the resignation of previous Attorney General Craig Richards.
The 2018 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 6,2018,to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Alaska. In the primaries for recognized political parties,candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately. The winners of each respective primary for governor and lieutenant governor then become a joint ticket in the general election for their political party. Incumbent Independent governor Bill Walker was seeking re-election in what was originally a three-way race between Walker,Republican former Alaska state senator Mike Dunleavy,and Democratic former Alaska U.S. Senator Mark Begich. Despite Walker dropping out on October 19,2018,and endorsing Begich,Dunleavy won in what was the only gubernatorial gain by a Republican candidate in 2018. As of 2024,this was the last time the Governor's office in Alaska changed partisan control. Walker later unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Alaska in 2022.
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.
Valerie Nurr'araaluk Davidson is an American politician who briefly served as the 13th lieutenant governor of Alaska,from October to December 2018. She was sworn in after Byron Mallott's abrupt resignation from the post on October 16,2018. In April 2020,Davidson became the 12th president of Alaska Pacific University,the first woman to serve as the university's president. She took a leave of absence from Alaska Pacific University to become interim president of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in March 2021. Her presidency of the Consortium became permanent in June of the same year and she resigned from Alaska Pacific University at that time. Davidson later became CEO of the Consortium as well. She left the Consortium in May 2024.
