Leland Chancy Croft (August 21, 1937 – August 30, 2022) was a
workers' compensation
Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...
attorney and
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
politician from the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
. Elected to 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 ...
in 1968, he served a single term from 1969 to 1971. He was then elected to the
Alaska Senate, serving in that body from 1971 to 1979, including serving as the president of the Senate from 1975 to 1977 during the 9th Alaska State Legislature.
In 1978, he ran for
Governor of Alaska, winning the Democratic nomination in the
primary election over two challengers. He would then become the first of 3 major party nominees in Alaska gubernatorial elections to place third in the general election. The 1978 gubernatorial election was dominated by Republican challenger
Walter 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 ...
. Hickel lost the primary to incumbent
Jay Hammond
Jay Sterner Hammond (July 21, 1922 – August 2, 2005) was an American politician of the Republican Party, who served as the fourth governor of Alaska from 1974 to 1982. Hammond was born in Troy, New York and served as a Marine Corps fighter pil ...
by 98 votes, then launched a
write-in campaign
A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...
, which outpolled Croft in the general election.
Croft largely retired from electoral politics after this campaign, but remained prominent in legal and political circles in Alaska. He founded the Croft Law Office, a workers' compensation firm, in downtown Anchorage, and appeared before the
Alaska Supreme Court
The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court for the U.S. state of Alaska. Its decisions are binding on all other Alaska state courts, and the only court its decisions may be appealed to is the Supreme Court of the United States. The Alas ...
in over sixty cases. He served a term on the
University of Alaska Board of Regents from 1995 to 2003, including as chair of the body from 2001 to 2002. His older son,
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
, has gone on to have his own political career.
Early life
Leland Chancy Croft was born in
Jennings, Louisiana
Jennings is a city in, and the parish seat of, Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, United States, near Lake Charles. The population was 10,383 at the 2010 census, a small decline from the 2000 tabulation. The city is 68 percent white.
Jennings i ...
on August 21, 1937, the son of Leland Croft, an oil and gas
landman and geologist, and Dorthy (née Chancy) Croft, a violin teacher. He grew up in
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County.
Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, ma ...
, where he graduated high school. He graduated from the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...
with baccalaureate degrees in government and sociology, as well as a law degree.
Not long after arriving in
Anchorage from Texas in 1962, Croft became a charter member of the
Alaska Legal Services Corporation, serving as chairman of the
Board of Governors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...
from 1971 to 1978.
Political career
Chancy Croft was elected to 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 ...
in 1968, serving a single term. He was then elected to the
Alaska Senate in 1970, serving from 1971 until 1979.
[''Alaska Legislature Roster of Members 1913-2010'', p. 47-54] He served as
Senate President
President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies.
The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ex ...
from 1975 to 1977.
He was the Democratic Party's nominee for
Governor of Alaska in 1978. Croft won the nomination over
Jalmar M. Kerttula and Ed Merdes; both had served in the Senate themselves. Croft was paired with lieutenant gubernatorial nominee
Katie Hurley. Hurley, as Katherine T. Alexander, was a government official in the latter days of the
Territory of Alaska
The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; the ...
, who married
Alaska constitution signer James J. "Jim" Hurley in 1960 and settled in his home area, the
Matanuska-Susitna Valley
Matanuska-Susitna Valley () (known locally as the Mat-Su or The Valley) is an area in Southcentral Alaska south of the Alaska Range about north of Anchorage, Alaska.
It is known for the world record sized cabbages and other vegetables displaye ...
. While still involved in Democratic Party politics, Hurley was largely out of the public eye at that point, busy raising her daughters in
Wasilla
Wasilla ( Dena'ina: ''Benteh'') is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, United States and the fourth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part of the ...
.
Croft's campaign would be the first of three times in Alaska gubernatorial elections that the major party nominee came in third in the general election. The campaign was overshadowed by the aftermath of the
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 ...
primary between incumbent
Jay Hammond
Jay Sterner Hammond (July 21, 1922 – August 2, 2005) was an American politician of the Republican Party, who served as the fourth governor of Alaska from 1974 to 1982. Hammond was born in Troy, New York and served as a Marine Corps fighter pil ...
and former governor
Walter 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 ...
. Hickel lost the primary by 98 votes, and after an extensive court challenge, launched a write-in campaign. Both Hammond (who won reelection) and Hickel outpolled Croft in the general election.
Croft was a member of the
University of Alaska Board of Regents
In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual c ...
from 1995 until 2003; he was chairman from 2001 to 2002. He worked to provide educational service to rural Alaska communities while guiding the university toward increased distance delivery education. He is responsible for establishing the Regents Scholarship benefiting UA junior, senior and graduate students. Croft was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law from the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Legal career
Chancy Croft appeared before the
Alaska Supreme Court
The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court for the U.S. state of Alaska. Its decisions are binding on all other Alaska state courts, and the only court its decisions may be appealed to is the Supreme Court of the United States. The Alas ...
in over sixty cases, winning two-thirds of those cases. In at least twelve cases, he lost to the Alaska Workers Compensation Board and in the
Alaska Superior Court The Alaska Court System is the unified, centrally administered, and totally state-funded judicial system for the state of Alaska. The Alaska District Courts are the primary misdemeanor trial courts, the Alaska Superior Courts are the primary felony ...
, only to succeed in the Supreme Court. He founded The Croft Law Office, located in an older
downtown Anchorage
Downtown Anchorage is a neighborhood in the U.S. city of Anchorage, Alaska. Considered the central business district of Anchorage, Downtown has many office buildings, cultural points of interest, shopping areas, as well as dining and nightlife ...
office building near the
Conoco-Phillips Building
The Conoco-Phillips Building is a 22- story, office building begun in 1981 and completed in 1983 as the ARCO Building, at 700 G Street in downtown Anchorage, Alaska and is the tallest building in both Anchorage and the state of Alaska. It was d ...
.
In 1986, his article, ''Something More Important Than Money: Vocational Rehabilitation in Workers Compensation Cases'', was published in the ''
Alaska Law Review''. The article lauded the Alaska statute providing injured workers with training for new careers. The legislature promptly repealed the statute. He unsuccessfully worked with the legislature on potential changes to the
Alaska Workers Compensation Act. In 2005, he sued the governor of Alaska, challenging the constitutionality of legislation which created a new executive court to hear appeals from decisions of the Alaska Workers Compensation Board.
Personal life
Leland Chancy Croft was commonly known by his middle name, which is also his mother's
maiden name
When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also use ...
. His oldest child,
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
(see below), bears the same middle name.
He was married to Antoinette Ruth "Toni" (née Williamson) Croft, a graduate of
Stanford University. He had three children- Eric, Kymberly and Lee. Eric's own career in politics would also include serving in the legislature and running for governor. He additionally ran for
mayor of Anchorage
This is a list of mayors of Anchorage, Alaska, United States. Anchorage was incorporated as a city on November 23, 1920. The Greater Anchorage Area Borough, which encompassed the city, was created in January 1964. The two were merged in a unifi ...
. Eric worked with his father at The Croft Law Office. His sister, Dona Lee Croft, is a professor of violin at the
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
References
External links
Alaska's Digital Archives- Photo of Chancy Croft while Senate President, taken September 7, 1976
Chancy Croftat ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature''
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, Chancy
1937 births
Alaska lawyers
Lawyers from Anchorage, Alaska
Living people
Democratic Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives
Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska
People from Jennings, Louisiana
People from Odessa, Texas
Presidents of the Alaska Senate
Democratic Party Alaska state senators
University of Alaska regents
University of Texas School of Law alumni