Richard L. Randolph (born April 10, 1936) is a longtime

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

agency owner in

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

who is best known as the first person to be elected to partisan office under the banner of 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 Lists of political part ...

with his election 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 1978. He was re-elected in 1980. After Alaska greatly increased its revenue from the development of oil, Randolph advocated the repeal of the state income tax. The effort was successful, with Alaska being one of only two states where residents pay neither an income nor a sales tax—the other being

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. He was also the LP's gubernatorial nominee in 1982, garnering nearly 15 percent of the vote.

Career

Dick Randolph was born in

Salmon, Idaho Salmon is a city in Lemhi County, Idaho. The population was 3,112 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Lemhi County. Located in the Lemhi River valley, Salmon is home to the Sacajawea Interpretive, Cultural and Education Center, wh ...

and graduated from

Idaho State College , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

in 1960 with a B.A. in education. He moved to

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., ...

that same year to become a teacher, spending several years doing such in Valdez and South Naknek. He moved to Fairbanks in 1964 and founded a

State Farm Insurance State Farm Insurance is a large group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. Overview State Farm is the largest property and casualty insurance provider, and the lar ...

agency, becoming its top sales agent in the nation in 1965. He also served as the state president and national vice-president for the

Jaycees The United States Junior Chamber, also known as the Jaycees, JCs or JCI USA, is a leadership training, service organization and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. It is a branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI) ...

before entering politics.

Politics

Randolph was first elected to the Alaska House in 1970 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 ...

. He was re-elected in 1972, but did not seek re-election in 1974, likely in protest of financial reporting laws which had just been enacted. A number of fellow legislators, also

self-employed Self-employment is the state of working for oneself rather than an employer. Tax authorities will generally view a person as self-employed if the person chooses to be recognised as such or if the person is generating income for which a tax return n ...

, had resigned from the legislature around this same time. Dick Randolph joined the Libertarian Party (LP) in the wake of the 1976 presidential election, after having met its nominee

Roger MacBride Roger Lea MacBride (August 6, 1929 – March 5, 1995) was an American lawyer, political figure, writer, and television producer. He was the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1976 election. MacBride became the first presidenti ...

during one of his campaign trips to Alaska. For roughly the next eight years, Randolph would serve as the public face of the LP in Alaska. Running as a Libertarian in 1978 Randolph finished fifth out of 17 candidates, taking one of the six State House seats in District 20. He was re-elected in 1980, coming in first out of 18 candidates, with his fellow Libertarian

Ken Fanning Kenneth James Fanning (born April 28, 1947) is an American hunting and fishing guide and former politician. In 1980, Fanning was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives as a Libertarian, becoming the second person elected to a U.S. state l ...

taking 4th and giving the Alaska LP two of the six seats in District 20. As the Libertarian candidate in the 1982 gubernatorial election, Randolph and his running mate Donnis Thompson received nearly 15% of the vote.

References

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LPedia
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Wikiberal
under the

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''.

External links

Richard Randolph
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Randolph, Dick 1936 births Living people Alaska Libertarians American businesspeople in insurance Businesspeople from Fairbanks, Alaska Idaho State University alumni Insurance agents Libertarian Party (United States) officeholders Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Politicians from Fairbanks, Alaska People from Salmon, Idaho People from Valdez, Alaska People from Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska