Jerry Ward | |
---|---|
Member of the Alaska Senate from the E district | |
In office January 21, 1997 –January 21, 2001 | |
Preceded by | Judith Salo |
Succeeded by | Tom Wagoner |
Member of the AlaskaHouseofRepresentatives from the 13 district | |
In office January 21,1983 –January 21,1985 | |
Preceded by | Patrick O'Connell |
Succeeded by | Pat Pourchot |
Personal details | |
Born | Anchorage,Alaska,U.S. | July 19,1948
Political party | Republican |
Jerry Ward (born July 19,1948) is an American politician and businessman.
An Alaska Native born in Anchorage,Alaska,Ward served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War and was in the Navy Seabees. Ward was in the real estate business.
In 1982,Ward was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives as a Republican,serving from 1983 until 1985.
In 1990,he won the Alaska Independence Party primary for Lt. Governor. However,he and his running mate,gubernatorial candidate John Howard Lindauer,stepped aside in favor of former Governor Walter Hickel,and the defecting Republican lieutenant gubernatorial candidate,state Senator Jack Coghill,who won the general election over ex-Anchorage Mayor,Democrat Tony Knowles and state Senator Willie Hensley,with Republican state Senator Arliss Sturgulewski finishing third.
In 1996 and 2000 he won elections to the Alaska State Senate. [1] [2]
In 1998,running again for statewide office,he joined now-Republican Lindauer as his lieutenant governor candidate. Thanks in part to a campaign financing scandal,their ticket finished far behind incumbent Governor Knowles and third behind a write-in candidate,state senator Robin L. Taylor.
Ward was defeated for reelection in 2002 by prison opponent and City of Kenai mayor Tom Wagoner of the Republican Moderate Party.
He lost again in 2004 to Wagoner,by then a Republican. [3]
During his terms in the state senate,Ward was substantially involved in numerous failed attempts to build Alaskan for-profit prisons. [4] [5] Those schemes eventually resulted in federal criminal prosecutions of numerous corporate executives and Republican legislators. [6] Although he wasn't charged,Ward remained under investigation as of 2009. [7] On December 15,2008,the Anchorage Daily News reported that Ward was implicated in the probe. He had been accused of a conspiracy involving Bill Weimar to accept an illegal $20,000 campaign contribution. [8] Weimar had a $5.5 million interest,contingent solely on the approval and building of a Cornell Companies prison in Alaska. On August 23,2004,Weimar sent a $3,000 check toward the settlement of a $20,000 invoice from a political consultancy. Later that same day he sent by express mail $8,500 in cash drawn from a Polson,Montana bank. A day later he sent another $8,500 in cash drawn from the Polson bank,according to federal court documents. [9] Daily cash transactions of over $10,000 mandate federal reporting per the Bank Secrecy Act. [10] Ward allegedly convinced a witness in the trial against Senator Ted Stevens to lie about an immunity deal in court to ensure that Ward was included in it and would therefore not be prosecuted. According to federal prosecutors,Ward had been under investigation for some time over his relationship with Weimar,ultimately convicted of two felony counts in the matter,receiving a federal prison sentence. While he also was presumed to be under continued investigation,Ward was not charged. [11]
In 2006,Ward ran once more for Lt. Governor in the Republican primary but was defeated by Sean Parnell. [12]
Ward ran Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in Alaska,was rewarded with a position in the Department of Education,but resigned not long afterward. [13]
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 from Alaska,having held the 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.
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.
The Alaska political corruption probe refers to a 2003 to 2010 widespread investigation by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice,the Federal Bureau of Investigation,and the Internal Revenue Service into political corruption of nine then-current or former Alaskan state lawmakers,as well as Republican US Representative Don Young and then-US Senator,Republican Ted Stevens. Sometimes referred to as "The Corrupt Bastards Club" or the "Operation Polar Pen",the investigation focused on the oil industry,fisheries and for-profit prison industries.
Thomas T. Anderson was a partner at Optima Public Relations in Anchorage,Alaska and host of the "Tom Anderson Show" radio talk show (www.TomAndersonShow.com) on KVNT 92.5 FM and 1020 AM in Anchorage and Mat-Su. Anderson,a Republican,was an Alaska state representative for District 19 representing northeast Anchorage for two terms,from 2003 to 2007. He became known for his sponsorship of legislation which expanded Alaska's DNA database to assist in forensic identification of criminal suspects through DNA testing.
Victor H. Kohring was an American politician who was a member of the Alaska House of Representatives.
The 2008 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 4,2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator and former President pro tempore Ted Stevens ran for re-election for an eighth term in the United States Senate. It was one of the ten Senate races that U.S. Senator John Ensign of Nevada,the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee,predicted as being most competitive. The primaries were held on August 26,2008. Stevens was challenged by Democratic candidate Mark Begich,the mayor of Anchorage and son of former U.S. Representative Nick Begich.
James Franklin Prewitt was an American attorney and government affairs consultant. He was a confidential source upon whom the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) relied to help prosecute "Operation Polar Pen," the Alaska political corruption probe that eventually ensnared United States Senator Ted Stevens. Prewitt was the author of Last Bridge to Nowhere,a creative non-fiction book that describes his involvement as an FBI source.
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.
The 1990 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 6,1990,for the open seat of Governor of Alaska. In 1989,incumbent Governor Steve Cowper,a Democrat,had announced that he would not seek re-election for a second term.
Daniel Scott Sullivan is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Alaska since 2015. A member of the Republican Party,Sullivan previously served as the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources from 2010 to 2013,and as the Alaska Attorney General from 2009 to 2010.
The 1996 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 5,1996. Incumbent Republican United States Senator Ted Stevens ran for re-election to a sixth term in the United States Senate. Stevens faced off against Democratic nominee Theresa Obermeyer,a former member of the Anchorage School Board,and Green Party nominee Jed Whittaker,a commercial fisherman. Stevens won in a landslide.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thomas H. Wagoner is an American politician and businessman who served in the Alaska Senate from 2003 until 2013.