Carl Eugene Moses (July 16, 1929 – April 30, 2014) was an American businessman from

Unalaska Unalaska ( ale, Iluulux̂; russian: Уналашка) is the chief center of population in the Aleutian Islands. The city is in the Aleutians West Census Area, a regional component of the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Unalaska ...

, Alaska who served in the

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people per ...

from 1965 to 1973 as both 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 ...

and

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 ...

, and was elected again to the House in 1992 running on the

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 ...

ticket, later switched back to the Democrats, and served until 2007. Moses served a total of eleven full terms in the Alaska House, making him the longest-serving member in the history of that body. In the 2006 primary election, Moses was defeated for renomination by

Bryce Edgmon Bryce Edgmon (born May 3, 1961) is a member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 37th District since 2006. He served as speaker from 2017–2021. The district includes all or portions of the Kodiak Island Borough, Aleutians ...

, losing via a

coin toss A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

after the election results wound up in court and were later certified by the state of Alaska as ending in a tie vote.

Early life

Carl Eugene Moses was born on July 16, 1929 in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...

, of mixed

Aleut The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the U ...

and German heritage. He moved to Pauloff Harbor, Alaska in 1933. He attended Edison Tech from 1954 to 1957, and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. He spent two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, and in 1960 moved to

King Cove, Alaska King Cove ( ale, Agdaaĝux̂) is a city in Aleutians East Borough, Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 938, up from 792 in 2000, but at the 2020 census this had reduced to 757. Geography King Cove is located at . K ...

. In 1966 he moved to Unalaska, and started a business called Carl's Commercial Co., eventually including a store, hotel and bar, of which he was owner and operator; in 1977, this was to become Carl's Inc., of which he remained president.

Political career

Moses served on the King Cove

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

from 1963 to 1964. In 1964 he was elected to the 12th Alaska House district as a Republican, defeating Democrat Niels P. Thomson 503 to 326 to replace Democratic incumbent Arthur J. Harris In 1966 he served a term on the Alaska Rural Housing Board, and was re-elected to the House over former Democratic State Representative Charles J. Franz, 461 to 357. In 1968 he again defeated Franz, 461-388. By 1970, alienated like other Alaska Republicans such as

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 1 ...

by the

Nixon administration Richard Nixon's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 37th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Richard Nixon, his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974 ...

, he had switched to the Democratic Party, and was re-elected without opposition. In 1972, after a

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

, he was replaced by fellow Democratic incumbent Edward F. Naughton. In 1973, he was appointed to a seat on the

Alaska Department of Fish and Game The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is a department within the government of Alaska. ADF&G's mission is to protect, maintain, and improve the fish, game, and aquatic plant resources of the state, and manage their use and development in ...

Board.

Return to the House

In 1992, Moses was elected to the 40th House district on the

ticket, defeating Democrat Dennis Robinson 1829 votes to 1600. He switched his party affiliation back to the Democratic Party on May 24, 1994 (at around the same time that incumbent Governor

, also elected on the AIP ticket, returned to the Republicans), and continued to serve in the House, winning races as a Democrat with 87% of the vote or more until the 2004 election, which he won with 2652 votes to 1527 for his Republican opponent. In August 2006, an ill Moses returned to Juneau to cast a critical vote that insured passage of a bill giving tax breaks to the oil industry, shortly after receiving campaign contributions from Bill Allen and five other VECO executives, the only Democrat to receive any from that source.

Coin toss loss

In the 2006 Democratic

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

for the House seat, Moses was tied with

at 767 votes each. There was a

to determine the winner, and Moses lost. Moses ran a write-in campaign against Edgmon and Republican nominee Ron Bowers. Edgmon won, with 2020 votes to 950 for Moses and 812 for Bowers. In 2019, Edgmon was elected by a bipartisan majority coalition as House Speaker and was the first Alaska Native to hold the position.

The Aleut Corporation

Moses served from 1974 to 1978 as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of The Aleut Corporation. In December 1978, a court ruled that Moses had orchestrated "inaccurate, false and misleading statements" during the April 1977 election for corporate directors, and ordered a new election. Moses eventually resigned his position as president, and was later sued by the Corporation for an alleged conspiracy involving unwise real estate purchases in a subdivision. In 2008 Moses began a new term on the Corporation's board of directors.

Death

Carl Moses died April 30, 2014, in

Sand Point, Alaska Sand Point, also known as Popof Island, is a city in Aleutians East Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 976, up from 952 in 2000, but by the 2020 Census this had reduced to 578. It is on northwestern Popof I ...

at age 84.

References

External links

Carl Moses
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moses, Carl E. 1929 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Alaska city council members Alaska Democrats Alaska Native people Alaska Republicans Alaskan Independence Party politicians American people of Aleut descent American people of German descent Businesspeople from Alaska Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Alaska Native American state legislators in Alaska People from Aleutians East Borough, Alaska People from Santa Cruz, California People from Unalaska, Alaska University of Washington alumni 20th-century American businesspeople