Zach Fansler | |
---|---|
Member of the AlaskaHouseofRepresentatives from the 38th district | |
In office January 23, 2017 –February 12, 2018 | |
Preceded by | Bob Herron |
Succeeded by | Tiffany Zulkosky |
Personal details | |
Born | Lebanon,Pennsylvania |
Political party | Democratic |
Education | Saint Joseph's University (BS) Temple University (JD) |
Zach Fansler is an American politician. He served on the Bethel City Council from 2014 to 2016,and in the Alaska House of Representatives from the 38th District from 2017 to 2018. He was first elected to the House in 2016,defeating Majority Whip Bob Herron in the Democratic primary. Fansler resigned on February 12,2018,due to allegations of assault.
Fansler was born in Lebanon,Pennsylvania. He has lived in Bethel,Alaska since 2011,and lived there previously from 2001 to 2004. [1] He served on the Bethel City Council from 2014 to 2016,and has worked for the Tundra Women's Coalition and was on the faculty at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. [1] [2] Zach also worked for Angstman Law Office providing legal services &the k300 as a manager.
Fansler was first elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 2016. While he ran unopposed in the general election,Fansler defeated Bob Herron in the primary with 57% of the vote. Herron was the Majority Whip for the Republican Party at the time. [3]
In 2017,Fansler visited villages in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta to learn about the threat to the communities posed by flooding and erosion due to climate change. Fansler said that the erosion "is something that we see in almost every village that we go to," and while he would not make a promise,he said that he was hopeful that the visit would help him better advocate for solutions. [4]
On January 25,2018,the Juneau Empire reported that Fansler was being investigated an incident that took place on the night of January 13,in which Fansler twice slapped a woman while drunk in a hotel room,which caused a rupture in her eardrum. Fansler's attorney denied the allegation on his behalf. [5] Text messages provided to the Empire show that Fansler said the following the morning after the incident:
I'm really sorry. I really,really like you and I'm sorry I ventured into my kink bdsm so early with you. I am so,so sorry to upset you. Can we please start over and try again? [5]
Fansler received condemnation from BDSM communities for the statement,with the head of the Alaska Center for Alternative Lifestyles saying that consent is integral to BDSM activities. [6] Bryce Edgmon,the Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives,asked for Fansler's resignation,stating that "Credible information came to my attention yesterday afternoon that Rep. Fansler had possibly behaved in a manner unbecoming of a legislator." [5]
On February 2,Fansler announced that he would resign from the Alaska House of Representatives,effective February 12. [2] [7] He pled guilty to second-degree harassment,and was sentenced to ten days of suspended sentence,as well as eighty hours of community service,a year of probation,a yearlong ban from alcohol,and an order to seek treatment for alcoholism. [8]
Primary election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Democratic | Zach Fansler | 1,234 | 57.32% | |
Democratic | Bob Herron (Incumbent) | 919 | 42.68% | |
Total votes | 2,153 | 100.0 | ||
General election | ||||
Democratic | Zach Fansler | 4,134 | 95.63% | |
Other | Write-ins | 189 | 4.37% | |
Total votes | 4,323 | 100.0 |
Bethel is a city in the U.S. state of Alaska,located on the Kuskokwim River approximately 50 miles (80 km) from where the river discharges into Kuskokwim Bay. It is the largest community in western Alaska and in the Unorganized Borough and the eighth-largest in the state. Bethel has a population of 6,325 as of the 2020 census,up from 6,080 in 2010.
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.
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.
Lyman F. Hoffman is a Yup'ik politician and registered Democrat who caucuses with the Republicans in the Alaska Senate. He represents the S district since 1995,and from 1991 through 1992 previously. He was a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1986 through 1990,and from 1993 through 1994.
Mary Sattler Peltola is an American politician and former tribal judge serving as the U.S. representative from Alaska's at-large congressional district since September 2022. She previously served as a judge on the Orutsararmiut Native Council's tribal court,executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission,Bethel city councillor and member of the Alaska House of Representatives.
An election was held on November 2,2010,to determine the U.S. representative for Alaska's at-large congressional district,which includes the entire state of Alaska. Don Young,the incumbent and a member of the Republican Party,was re-elected to a twentieth term to serve in the 112th Congress from January 3,2011,until January 3,2013. A primary election was held on August 24,2010.
Bruce Weyhrauch is an attorney in Juneau,Alaska,United States. He is also a former representative in the Alaska State House representing Juneau's District 4. Weyhrauch has practiced at his own law office in Juneau for nearly three decades. His regulatory and government affairs-focused practice handles a wide variety of matters,including labor relations and natural resources.
Bob Herron is a Democratic former member of the Alaska House of Representatives,representing the 38th District from 2009 until 2017. Herron was the Majority Whip,granting him the distinction of being the only Representative in the United States elected as a Democrat who served as a statewide leader of a Republican party-majority legislative body. The official job of the Whip is to make sure that House members vote in line with Republican leadership.
William A. Thomas Jr. is a businessman,commercial fisherman,and politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. Thomas served as a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives from the 5th District,comprising scattered rural and semi-rural communities throughout Southeast Alaska and stretching westward to Prince William Sound,from 2005 to 2013. Thomas served in the majority his entire tenure in the House and held multiple chairmanships. Thomas gained a seat on the powerful House Finance Committee during his second term and would eventually co-chair the committee. Following redistricting,Thomas lost reelection in 2012 by 32 votes to 23-year-old Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins,a political newcomer who left Yale University to run.
Lance David Pruitt was a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives from the 27th district which covers East Anchorage. He was elected in 2010 and left office in 2021 following his election loss in 2020.
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.
Sam Kito III is an American politician from Alaska. A Democrat,he served in the Alaska House of Representatives as one of two representatives from Juneau since his appointment in 2014 until 2019.
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 running for re-election in what was originally a three-way race between Walker,Republican former state senator Mike Dunleavy,and Democratic nominee Mark Begich,a former U.S. Senator. However,Walker dropped out on October 19,2018,and endorsed Begich. In spite of Walker dropping out,Dunleavy defeated Begich in what would become the only gubernatorial gain by a Republican candidate in 2018. Walker later unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Alaska in 2022.
The 2017–18 United States political sexual scandals saw a heightened period of allegations of sexual misconduct,harassment and assault,and resulted in the subsequent firings and resignations of American politicians. Some of the allegations are linked to the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases starting in October 2017 amid the wider MeToo movement.
Tiffany Zulkosky is an American politician. She has served in the Alaska House of Representatives from District 38 since March 2018. Zulkosky is a Democrat and caucuses with the House Majority Caucus. In 2018,she was appointed by Governor Bill Walker and unanimously approved by House Democrats to fill the vacant seat in District 38. Zulkosky,who is Yup'ik,is the only Alaska Native woman currently serving in the Alaska Legislature.
Bryan Lee Slaton is a former pastor and American politician. Slaton represented the 2nd district in the Texas House of Representatives from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party,Slaton also works for his family business,Slaton Financial Services.
Supreme Moore Omokunde is an American community organizer and Democratic politician from Milwaukee,Wisconsin. He has also been known by the names Sowande Ajumoke Omokunde and Supreme Solar Allah. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly,representing Wisconsin's 17th Assembly district since 2021. He was also a member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors from 2015 through 2020.
Orutsararmiut Traditional Native Council (ONC) is the largest tribe in the Bethel,Alaska region. It is a federally recognized tribe and a governing body for the community of Bethel,Alaska.
Eugene R. "Buzzy" Peltola Jr. was an American public servant and naturalist who served as Alaska director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and manager of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. He was the husband of Congresswoman Mary Peltola. Peltola died as the result of a plane crash in September 2023.