Linda K. Menard (born December 21,1943) [1] is a former Republican member of the Alaska Senate. She represented the G District from 2009 through 2012. [2] She had previously served for over a decade on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough school board,including as president.
Her husband,Curtis D. Menard (1944–2009),himself had served in the Senate from 1991 to 1993,as well as serving three terms in the Alaska House of Representatives. Curt Menard was serving as mayor of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough at the time of his death. The Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla would later be named in his honor.
Menard was initially known at the beginning of her tenure in the Senate,to some degree of scorn,for her efforts in establishing Marmot Day in Alaska,a cause originally championed by Curt Menard. Following the successful passage of the legislation in April 2009,she has focused most of her efforts on support for and work on constructing the Knik Arm Crossing bridge project.
On August 28,2012,Menard lost her election bid in the Republican primary to Mike Dunleavy. [3]
Matanuska-Susitna Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. Its borough seat is Palmer,and the largest community is the census-designated place of Knik-Fairview. As of the 2020 census,the borough's population was 107,801.
Linda R. Greenstein is an American attorney and politician who has served since 2010 as a member of the New Jersey Senate representing the 14th legislative district. She previously served in the General Assembly from 2000 to 2010.
The Knik Arm Bridge is a dormant proposal for a 1.74-mile (2.80 km) bridge across Cook Inlet's Knik Arm to link the two fastest growing parts of Alaska –Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
Leland Chancy Croft was a workers' compensation attorney and Democratic Party politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. Elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1968,he served a single term from 1969 to 1971. He was then elected to the Alaska Senate,serving in that body from 1971 to 1979,including serving as the president of the Senate from 1975 to 1977 during the 9th Alaska State Legislature.
Talis James Colberg is an American lawyer and politician who was appointed by Governor Sarah Palin as the seventeenth attorney general of Alaska on December 13,2006. Colberg resigned in February 2009 over controversy over the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal. A quote from his second cousin,Talis P. Colberg:“George Washington wouldn’t drive a lifted Dodge.”
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.
Lyda N. Green was an American educator and Republican politician in the U.S. state of Alaska. Green,as a political newcomer,was elected to the Alaska Senate in 1994,defeating a 22-year Democratic incumbent in a district representing most of the population of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Two Democratic members of the Alaska House of Representatives,also from the Matanuska-Susitna Valley,were defeated in the same election. Green served a total of fourteen years in the Senate and was its president in her final two years in office.
Elizabeth J. "Beth" Kerttula is a Democratic former member of the Alaska House of Representatives,representing the 3rd District from 1998 to her resignation at the start of the legislative session in 2014. Sam Kito III was appointed to serve the remainder of her term. She served as the House Minority Leader from 2006 until her resignation,when she was succeeded by Chris Tuck. She resigned on the first day of the 2014 legislative session to accept a fellowship at the Center for Ocean Solutions at Stanford University,her alma mater. She was appointed as Director of the National Oceans Council,under President Barack Obama,on June 5,2014. She was the daughter of Joyce and state senator Jalmar M. Kerttula. Her father represented the Matanuska-Susitna Valley in the Alaska legislature for most of the period between 1961 and 1995 and served as the Senate President.
Jalmar Martin "Jay" Kerttula was an American businessman,farmer,and politician in Alaska. A member of the Democratic Party,Kerttula was the longest-serving member of the Alaska Legislature,having served in the House from 1961 to 1963 and 1965 to 1973 and in the Senate from 1973 to 1995.,until his record was surpassed by Lyman Hoffman in 2019.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) is a school district based in the city of Palmer,Alaska. It serves 40 schools across Mat-Su Borough,which each enroll from 15 to 1300 students. The estimated sum of the total number of students attending schools in this district is 15,969. MSBSD is the second-largest school district in Alaska,with the largest district being Anchorage School District.
Sarah Palin was a member of the City Council of Wasilla,Alaska from 1992 to 1996 and the city's mayor from 1996 to 2002. Wasilla is located 29 miles (47 km) north-east of the port of Anchorage,and is the largest population center in the Mat-Su Valley. At the conclusion of Palin's tenure as mayor in 2002,the city had about 6,300 residents,and is now the fifth largest city in the state. Term limits prevented Palin from running for a third term as mayor.
The City of Wasilla (Dena'ina: Benteh) is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough,United States and the fourth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part of the state. The city's population was 9,054 at the 2020 census,up from 7,831 in 2010. Wasilla is the largest city in the borough and a part of the Anchorage metropolitan area,which had an estimated population of 398,328 in 2020.
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.
Beverly L. "Bev" Masek is an Alaska Native and an American former dog sled racer,and businesswoman. She was a Republican politician who served in the state legislature for several terms.
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.
Shelley Hughes is an American politician and a Republican member of the Alaska Senate,serving since 2017. Hughes represents Palmer and other parts of the southern Matanuska-Susitna Borough. She was previously a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from January 18,2013,until January 22,2017.
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.
Cathy Tilton is an American politician from Alaska. A Republican,she is a member of the Alaska House of Representatives,representing District 26 which is entirely within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Prior to 2020 redistricting,represented District 12.
David S. Wilson is an American politician from Alaska. A Republican,Wilson has represented Wasilla in the Alaska Senate since 2017. He formerly served as a city councilman in Wasilla.
Olga Katherine Torkelsen Hurley served as the Secretary to Alaska Territorial Governor Ernest Gruening from 1944 until his departure from office in 1953. She was Chief Clerk to the Alaska Constitutional Convention from 1955 to 1956 and the secretary to the State Senate for five terms. In 1984,she was elected to seat 16-A in the Alaska house,serving until January 1987.
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