David Warren "Dave" Cuddy (born September 16, 1952) is a businessman and

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

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 sover ...

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., ...

. David Warren Cuddy was born in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

to Daniel Hon "Dan" and Betty Jane "Betti" (née Puckett) Cuddy. He was named after his uncle (and Dan Cuddy's only sibling), who died in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1944. Growing up in Anchorage (where he has lived for most of his life), he graduated from

West Anchorage High School West Anchorage High School (formerly Anchorage High School) is a public high school in Anchorage, Alaska. The school is part of the Anchorage School District (ASD). Opened in 1953, West is the oldest of ASD's eight major high schools. Serving the ...

in 1970, and went on to earn a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

in 1974. Cuddy joined the business operated by his family, First National Bank of Anchorage (now called

First National Bank Alaska First National Bank Alaska () is an American bank founded in 1922 by Winfield Ervin Sr., as The First National Bank of Anchorage. The first branch stood on the corner of 4th and G Streets in Anchorage, Alaska. History The bank was founded in 19 ...

) in 1972, working his way up from teller to

loan officer Loan officers evaluate, authorize, or recommend approval of loan applications for people and businesses. Most loan officers are employed by commercial banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, and related financial institutions. Mortgage loan offi ...

, and eventually vice-president at the time he left the bank. Cuddy was elected to a single term 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 ...

in 1980. A combination of

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 ...

and pressure from

Dick Randolph Richard L. Randolph (born April 10, 1936) is a longtime insurance agency owner in Fairbanks, Alaska who is best known as the first person to be elected to partisan office under the banner of the Libertarian Party with his election to the Alaska ...

to defect to the

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties * Outline of libertarianism ...

played heavily in his decision not to run for re-election. In 1996 and 2008, Cuddy unsuccessfully challenged

Ted Stevens Theodore Fulton Stevens Sr. (November 18, 1923 – August 9, 2010) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a U.S. Senator from Alaska from 1968 to 2009. He was the longest-serving Republican Senator in history at the time he left o ...

in the Alaska Republican U.S. Senate primary. Cuddy lists his occupation as an independent

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. In 2001, he worked for a California-based entertainment firm as a business consultant to independent filmmakers, and left them in 2003. While acting as executive producer on the film ''Light in the Forest'', he met Austin-based screenwriter Bonnie Orr, and in 2007 he began construction of a film studio in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

References

External links

Dave Cuddy for U.S. Senate
official campaign website
David Cuddy
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' 1952 births American bankers American film producers Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni Living people Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska {{US-film-producer-stub