List of governors of Alaska

The governor of Alaska is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Alaska. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Alaska's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws.

Governor of Alaska
The Seal of the State of Alaska
Incumbent Mike Dunleavy since December 3, 2018
Residence	Alaska Governor's Mansion
Term length	Four years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	William A. Egan
Formation	January 3, 1959
Deputy	Kevin Meyer
Salary	$145,000 [1]
Website	gov.alaska.gov

Eleven people have served as governor of the State of Alaska over 13 distinct terms, though Alaska had over 30 civilian and military governors during its long history as a United States territory. Only two governors, William A. Egan and Bill Walker, were born in Alaska. Two people, Egan and Wally Hickel, have been elected to multiple non-consecutive terms as governor. Hickel is also noted for a rare third party win in American politics, having been elected to a term in 1990 representing the Alaskan Independence Party. The longest-serving governor of the state was Egan, who was elected three times and served nearly 12 years. The longest-serving territorial governor was Ernest Gruening, who served 13½ years.

The current governor is Republican Mike Dunleavy, who took office on December 3, 2018.

Governors before statehood

Alaska was purchased by the United States from the Russian Empire in 1867, with formal transfer occurring on October 18, 1867,[2] which is now celebrated as Alaska Day. Before then, it was known as Russian America or Russian Alaska, controlled by the governors and general managers of the Russian-American Company.

Commanders of the Department of Alaska

The vast region was initially designated the Department of Alaska, under the jurisdiction of the Department of War and administered by the U.S. Army officers until 1877, when the Army was withdrawn from Alaska. The Department of the Treasury then took control, with the Collector of Customs as the highest ranking federal official in the territory. In 1879, the U.S. Navy was given jurisdiction over the department.[3]

Some believe the first American administrator of Alaska was Polish immigrant Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski. However, the Anchorage Daily News was unable to find any conclusive information to support this claim.[4]

Chief federal officers of the Department of Alaska

No.	Commander		Position	Term in office
1		Jefferson C. Davis	Army Colonel	October 18, 1867 – August 31, 1870
2		George K. Brady	Army Captain	September 1, 1870 – September 22, 1870
3		John C. Tidball	Army Major	September 23, 1870 – September 19, 1871
4		Harvey A. Allen	Army Major	September 20, 1871 – January 3, 1873
5		Joseph Stewart	Army Major	January 4, 1873 – April 20, 1874
6		George B. Rodney Jr.	Army Captain	April 21, 1874 – August 16, 1874
7		Joseph B. Campbell	Army Captain	August 17, 1874 – June 14, 1876
8		John Mendenhall	Army Major	June 15, 1876 – March 4, 1877
9		Arthur Morris	Army Captain	March 5, 1877 – June 14, 1877
10		Montgomery P. Berry	Collector of Customs	June 14, 1877 – August 13, 1877
11		Henry Charles DeAhna	Collector of Customs	August 14, 1877 – March 26, 1878
12		M. D. Ball	Collector of Customs	March 27, 1878 – June 13, 1879
13		Lester A. Beardslee	Navy Captain	June 14, 1879 – September 12, 1880
14		Henry Glass	Navy Commander	September 13, 1880 – August 9, 1881
15		Edward P. Lull	Navy Commander	August 10, 1881 – October 18, 1881
16		Henry Glass	Navy Commander	October 19, 1881 – March 12, 1882
17		Frederick Pearson	Navy Commander	March 13, 1882 – October 3, 1882
18		Edgar C. Merriman	Navy Commander	October 4, 1882 – September 13, 1883
19		Joseph Coghlan	Navy Commander	September 15, 1883 – September 13, 1884
20		Henry E. Nichols	Navy Lieutenant commander	September 14, 1884 – September 15, 1884

Governors of the District of Alaska

On May 17, 1884, the Department of Alaska was redesignated the District of Alaska, an incorporated but unorganized territory with a civil government. The governor was appointed by the president of the United States.

Governors of the District of Alaska

No.	Governor		Term in office	Appointed by
1		John Henry Kinkead	July 4, 1884 – May 7, 1885	Chester A. Arthur
2		Alfred P. Swineford	May 7, 1885 – April 20, 1889	Grover Cleveland
3		Lyman Enos Knapp	April 20, 1889 – June 18, 1893	Benjamin Harrison
4		James Sheakley	June 18, 1893 – June 23, 1897	Grover Cleveland
5		John Green Brady	June 23, 1897 – March 2, 1906[lower-alpha 1]	William McKinley
6		Wilford Bacon Hoggatt	March 10, 1906[6] – May 20, 1909	Theodore Roosevelt
7		Walter Eli Clark	May 20, 1909 – August 24, 1912	William Howard Taft

Governors of the Territory of Alaska

The District of Alaska was organized into Alaska Territory on August 24, 1912. Governors continued to be appointed by the president of the United States.

Governors of the Territory of Alaska

No.	Portrait		Term in office	Appointed by
1		Walter Eli Clark	August 24, 1912 – April 18, 1913	William Howard Taft
2		John Franklin Alexander Strong	April 18, 1913 – April 12, 1918[lower-alpha 2]	Woodrow Wilson
3		Thomas Riggs Jr.	April 12, 1918 – June 16, 1921
4		Scott Cordelle Bone	June 16, 1921 – August 16, 1925	Warren G. Harding
5		George Alexander Parks	August 16, 1925 – April 19, 1933	Calvin Coolidge
6		John Weir Troy	April 19, 1933 – December 6, 1939	Franklin D. Roosevelt
7		Ernest Gruening[lower-alpha 3]	December 6, 1939 – April 10, 1953
8		B. Frank Heintzleman	April 10, 1953 – January 3, 1957[lower-alpha 4]	Dwight D. Eisenhower
—		Waino Hendrickson	January 3, 1957 – April 8, 1957	Acting[lower-alpha 5]
9		Mike Stepovich	April 8, 1957 – August 9, 1958[lower-alpha 6]	Dwight D. Eisenhower
—		Waino Hendrickson	August 9, 1958 – January 3, 1959	Acting[lower-alpha 5]

Governors of the State of Alaska

Alaska was admitted to the Union on January 3, 1959.

The state constitution provides for the election of a governor and lieutenant governor every four years on the same ticket, with their terms commencing on the first Monday in the December following the election.[11] Governors are allowed to succeed themselves once, having to wait four years after their second term in a row before being allowed to run again.[12] Should the office of governor become vacant, the lieutenant governor assumes the office of governor.[13] The original constitution of 1956 created the office of secretary of state, which was functionally identical to a lieutenant governor, and was renamed to "lieutenant governor" in 1970.[14]

Governors of the State of Alaska[lower-alpha 7]

No.	Governor			Term in office	Party	Election	Lt. Governor[lower-alpha 8][lower-alpha 9]
1			William A. Egan	January 3, 1959 – December 5, 1966 (lost election)	Democratic	1958		Hugh Wade
						1962
2			Wally Hickel	December 5, 1966 – January 29, 1969 (resigned)[lower-alpha 10]	Republican	1966		Keith Harvey Miller
3			Keith Harvey Miller	January 29, 1969 – December 7, 1970 (lost election)[16]	Republican	Succeeded from Secretary of State		Robert W. Ward
1			William A. Egan	December 7, 1970 – December 2, 1974 (lost election)	Democratic	1970		H. A. Boucher
4			Jay Hammond	December 2, 1974 – December 6, 1982 (term limited)	Republican	1974		Lowell Thomas Jr.
						1978		Terry Miller
5			Bill Sheffield	December 6, 1982 – December 1, 1986 (lost renomination)[lower-alpha 11]	Democratic	1982		Steve McAlpine
6			Steve Cowper	December 1, 1986 – December 3, 1990 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1986
2			Wally Hickel	December 3, 1990 – December 5, 1994 (not candidate for election)	Alaskan Independence[lower-alpha 12]	1990		Jack Coghill
7			Tony Knowles	December 5, 1994 – December 2, 2002 (term limited)	Democratic	1994		Fran Ulmer
						1998
8			Frank Murkowski	December 2, 2002 – December 4, 2006 (lost renomination)[lower-alpha 13]	Republican	2002		Loren Leman
9			Sarah Palin	December 4, 2006 – July 26, 2009 (resigned)[lower-alpha 14]	Republican	2006		Sean Parnell
10			Sean Parnell	July 26, 2009 – December 1, 2014 (lost election)[21]	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
								Craig Campbell (took office August 10, 2009)[lower-alpha 15]
						2010		Mead Treadwell
11			Bill Walker	December 1, 2014 – December 3, 2018 (withdrew from election)[lower-alpha 16]	Independent	2014		Byron Mallott (resigned October 16, 2018)[25]
								Valerie Davidson
12			Mike Dunleavy	December 3, 2018 – present[lower-alpha 17]	Republican	2018		Kevin Meyer

Succession

Main article: Gubernatorial lines of succession in the United States § Alaska

See also

• List of Alaska State Legislatures
• List of governors of dependent territories in the 19th century
• List of governors of dependent territories in the 20th century

Notes

1. Brady was forced to resign due to his involvement with the fraudulent Reynolds–Alaska Development Company.[5]
2. Strong resigned on request after it was discovered he was still a Canadian citizen.[7]
3. During most of World War II, Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., was the military commander of Alaska, and held much executive power over the territory.[8]
4. Heintzleman resigned; reportedly he was unhappy with the job, and did not expect to be reappointed.[9]
5. As secretary of Alaska, acted as governor for remainder of term.[10]
6. Stepovich resigned to run for the United States Senate, losing that election.[10]
7. Data is sourced from the National Governors Association, unless supplemental references are required.
8. The office of lieutenant governor was named secretary of state until 1970.[14]
9. Lieutenant governors have all represented the same party as their governor.
10. Hickel resigned to become United States Secretary of the Interior.[15]
11. Sheffield lost the Democratic nomination to Steve Cowper.[17]
12. Hickel was elected as a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, and switched to the Republican party in April 1994.[18]
13. Murkowski finished third in the Republican primary, behind winner Sarah Palin and John Binkley.[19]
14. Palin resigned, citing the costs of ethics investigations.[20]
15. Campbell's position was termed "Temporary Substitute Lieutenant Governor[22] until he was confirmed by the Alaska Legislature on August 10, 2009.[23]
16. Walker withdrew from the election on October 19, after the deadline of September 4 and so remained on the ballot.[24]
17. Dunleavy's first term expires on December 5, 2022.

References

General

• "Former Alaska Governors". National Governors Association. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
• Gates, Nancy (2007). The Alaska Almanac: Facts about Alaska (30th ed.). Graphic Arts Center Publishing Co. pp. 85–87. ISBN 0-88240-652-3. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
• Sobel, Robert (1978). Biographical directory of the governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. I. Meckler Books. ISBN 9780930466015. Retrieved July 10, 2019.

Constitution

• "Constitution of the State of Alaska". Alaska State Legislature. 1956. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.

Specific

1. "The Governors: Compensation, Staff, Travel and Residence" (PDF). The Council of State Governments. April 3, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
2. "Purchase of Alaska, 1867". United States Department of State Office of the Historian. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
3. Gates p. 86
4. Ruskin, Liz (2002-12-20). "Barking up the wrong Pole: Hero wasn't governor". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved August 26, 2008.
5. Janson, Lone (1975). The Copper Spike. Alaska Northwest Publishing Co. p. 44. ISBN 0-88240-045-2.
6. "New Governor of Alaska". New York Times. March 11, 1906. p. 5.
7. Gruening, Ernest (1973). Many Battles: The Autobiography of Ernest Gruening. Liveright. p. 216. ISBN 0-87140-565-2.
8. Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. University of Washington Press. 1997. p. 319. ISBN 0-295-97558-X.
9. Naske, Claus-M. (1985). A History of Alaska Statehood. University Press of America. p. 244. ISBN 0-8191-4556-4.
10. Naske, Claus-M.; Herman E. Slotnick (1979). Alaska: A History of the 49th State. Eerdmans. p. 309. ISBN 0-8028-7041-4.
11. AK Const. art. III, § 4
12. AK Const. art. III, § 5
13. AK Const. art. III, § 11
14. AK Const. amendments
15. "Walter J. Hickel". National Governors Association. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
16. Sobel p. 45
17. "Alaska's Gov. Bill Sheffield, who survived a Watergate-flavored impeachment effort last summer, conceded Wednesday to challenger Steve Cowper, becoming the first state chief executive to lose a primary this year". UPI. August 27, 1986. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
18. "Alaska's Gov. Hickel Rejoins Gop Amid Speculation Over Another Term". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. April 15, 1994. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
19. "STATE OF ALASKA - 2006 PRIMARY ELECTION AUGUST 22, 2006 OFFICIAL RESULTS". Archived from the original on March 4, 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
20. "Legal Bills Swayed Palin, Official Says". The New York Times. July 5, 2009. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
21. "2014 General Election November 4, 2014 Official Results". elections.alaska.gov. November 11, 2014. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
22. Forgey, Pat (July 28, 2009). "Alaska gets first ever 'temporary substitute' lt. governor". Juneau Empire. Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
23. "House Journal, Alaska State Legislature, Twenty-Sixth Legislature, First Special Session". legis.state.ak.us. State of Alaska. August 10, 2009. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
24. Hobson, Margaret Kriz (October 24, 2018). "Chaos, questions in Alaska as governor's race shrinks". E&E News. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
25. Zak, Annie; Hanlon, Tegan; DeMarban, Alex (October 16, 2018). "Alaska Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott abruptly resigns following "inappropriate comments"". Anchorage Daily News.

External links

• Office of the Governor of Alaska