Alaska Territory's at-large congressional district

Alaska Territory, 1912–1959

Alaska Territory's at-large congressional district is an obsolete congressional district created in 1906 to represent the District of Alaska, which was reorganized into the Alaska Territory in 1912. After Alaska's admission to the Union as the 49th state by act of Congress on January 3, 1959, this district evolved into Alaska's at-large congressional district.

List of delegates

In the years following the Alaska Purchase, Alaskans held a series of political conventions focused on sending an representative to the U.S. Congress. The purpose was to lobby mainly for representation in the body, in similar fashion to the later application of the Tennessee Act to lobby for Alaskan statehood, but also for greater autonomy for Alaska. The first convention, held in 1881, saw a non-partisan group send a Democrat (M. D. Ball) to Washington, who worked with a Republican senator (Benjamin Harrison) to craft the organic act which created the District of Alaska. Ball and several subsequent individuals were unable to convince Congress to grant the District a delegate, however. Events changed as the population of Alaska increased around the turn of the 20th century, mainly on account of immigration due to gold rushes.

On May 7, 1906, an act of Congress gave the District of Alaska the authority to elect a Congressional delegate.[1][2][3] On August 24, 1912, the District of Alaska was reorganized into an organized incorporated territory and continued to elect delegates until Alaska became a state in 1959.[1]

Delegate Party Years District home Notes
Frank Hinman Waskey Democratic December 3, 1906 – March 3, 1907 Nome elected on a nonpartisan ticket[4]
Thomas Cale Independent March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1909 Fairbanks
James Wickersham Republican March 4, 1909 – March 3, 1917 Fairbanks
Charles August Sulzer Democratic March 4, 1917 – January 7, 1919 Prince of Wales Island
James Wickersham Republican January 7, 1919 – March 3, 1919 Fairbanks
Charles August Sulzer Democratic March 4, 1919 – April 28, 1919 Prince of Wales Island Died
Vacant April 28, 1919 – June 3, 1920
George Barnes Grigsby Democratic June 3, 1920 – March 1, 1921 Juneau
James Wickersham Republican March 1, 1921 – March 3, 1921 Fairbanks
Daniel Sutherland Republican March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1931 Juneau
James Wickersham Republican March 4, 1931 – March 3, 1933 Juneau
Anthony Dimond Democratic March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1945 Valdez
Bob Bartlett Democratic January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1959 Juneau

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "A history of Alaska's primary elections". Alaska Division of Elections. September 2000. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress". United States Congress. Archived from the original on 23 April 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  3. ↑ "House History". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Alaskan Delegate Here: Frank H. Waskey Pleases by Good Looks and Modest Ways". The Washington Post. October 29, 1906. p. 7.

Coordinates: 64°N 153°W / 64°N 153°W / 64; -153

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