Bob Poe is an American businessman and former cabinet member who ran for Governor of Alaska in the

2010 Alaska gubernatorial election The 2010 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Former Governor Sarah Palin did not run, having resigned in July 2009. Incumbent Governor Sean Parnell, who as lieutenant governor succeeded Palin following her resignation, ...

. Poe announced his candidacy in January 2009 and was the first Democrat to announce his intention to run for governor. He has worked with various administrations in Alaska under former Governors Bill Sheffield, Steve Cowper, Tony Knowles, and

Wally Hickel Walter Joseph Hickel (August 18, 1919 – May 7, 2010) 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 and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from ...

. On June 14, 2010 he announced that he was withdrawing from the gubernatorial race.

Early life and education

Poe spent his early years in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood of

Webster Groves Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census. The city is home to the main campus of Webster University. Geography Webster Groves is located at ( ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Missouri. Poe's mother was a teacher, and his father received training in dentistry. Poe's father was forced to cease studying dentistry after he experienced momentary

blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

. He graduated from

De Smet Jesuit High School De Smet Jesuit High School is a Catholic, college preparatory high school for boys located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis. The school began classes in the fall of 1967. It was named in honor of the p ...

. In 1977, he earned a bachelor's degree in

business finance Corporate finance is the area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and analysis used to ...

from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). Poe studied for a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

from the same university, earning his degree in 1979 with a concentration in international finance and economics.

Career

Around the time he earned his MBA, Poe took a job with the professional services firm

Price Waterhouse PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

as a business consultant, and was working in Springfield, Illinois when an opportunity with the company came up to design a new accounting system for the State of Alaska. Poe, who was an avid mountain climber, leaped at the opportunity to move to Alaska and arrived in the state capitol of

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the s ...

in January 1981. The accounting system he created, which came to be known as the Alaska Statewide Accounting System (AKSAS), is still in use in 2009. Democratic Governor Bill Sheffield offered Poe a position in Alaska's Office of Management and Budget in 1983, allowing him to work on creating a new budgeting system for the state. In 1985, Poe went on to work for

Coopers & Lybrand PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

, working on financial projects including the valuation of

Eklutna River The Eklutna River () is approximately long and is located in the Southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska. A portion of the river flows through a canyon up to deep, emptying into the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet approximately northeast of Anc ...

hydroelectric dam and the Snettisham hydroelectric dam. Democratic Governor Steve Cowper asked Poe to be the Deputy Commissioner of Transportation and Public Facilities in 1987. Under Poe's supervision, the Department of Transportation's was able to provide a $240 million return to the state. In 1988, Governor Cowper appointed Poe as the Director of International Trade. Poe managed the state's international trade offices in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, and was in charge of overseeing trade relations with the Russian government. By 1993, Poe was working for the state Senate Finance Committee, and reported to Republican state senator Drue Pearce. He was appointed by (at the time,

Alaskan Independence Party The Alaskan Independence Party (AKIP) is an Alaskan nationalist political party that advocates an in-state referendum which would include the option of Alaska becoming an independent country. The party also advocates positions similar to those ...

member) Governor

, as Director of Administrative Services for the Alaska Department of Environment Conservation. Poe began working for the state again in 1997 when Governor Knowles asked him to take over as Business Development Manager of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA). In 1998, Poe was asked by Governor Knowles to be the Y2K Senior Project Manager, in addition to appointing him Commissioner of Administration, a confirmed cabinet position that Poe held until he was appointed as Executive Director of AIDEA and the Alaska Energy Authority in 2000. Poe became the Vice President of the ASCG Inc., a subsidiary of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, and in 2004 he became the President and CEO of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC). Poe, in his early adulthood, was a registered

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. When he was employed by Republican state senator Drue Pearce, he momentarily registered as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. In January 2009, Poe proclaimed his intent to run as a Democratic candidate for governor. In the intervening periods of time, he was an undeclared voter. Poe characterizes himself as a

fiscal conservative Fiscal conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, and ''laissez-faire'' economics.M. O. Dickerson et al., ''A ...

and as a pro-business, pro-development Democrat.

Run for governor

On January 8, 2009, Bob Poe announced his candidacy for Governor of Alaska in the

. He was the first Democrat to announce his intention to run for Governor of Alaska. Poe withdrew from the gubernatorial race in June 2010 because he did not have enough funds.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poe, Bob 1954 births Living people Alaska Democrats People from Webster Groves, Missouri University of Missouri–St. Louis alumni