Norris J. "Jim" Whitaker (born September 30, 1950) is an American politician of the

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 ...

who served as mayor of

Fairbanks North Star Borough The Fairbanks North Star Borough is a borough located in the state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,665, down from 97,581 in 2010. The borough seat is Fairbanks. The borough's land area is slightly smaller than that o ...

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., ...

, from 2003 to 2009. Prior to his mayoral term, Whitaker 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 1999 to 2003. In October 2003 he was elected borough mayor, defeating the incumbent, fellow Republican Rhonda Boyles. Whitaker was reelected in 2006 with over 77% of the vote. As mayor, Whitaker was known for supporting spending on quality of life services such as parks and recreation, as well as spearheading a campaign to prevent a drastic reduction in the operations of

Eielson Air Force Base Eielson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located approximately 26 miles (42 km) southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska and just southeast of Moose Creek, Alaska. It was established in 1943 as Mile 26 Satellite Field and rede ...

due to federal budget cuts. Whitaker endorsed

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 ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

in the

2008 United States presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

and spoke during the second day of the

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The conventi ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. Many Alaska Republicans expressed ill feelings about the decision, with one former state senator accusing him of being a Republican In Name Only. Whitaker's endorsement of Obama was notable as the mayor of the second-largest metropolitan area in Alaska, the home state of 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

, who was nominated by

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

after the Democratic convention. In 2009, Whitaker endorsed Democrat Luke Hopkins to be his successor as mayor. Hopkins won the election in a runoff on November 3 and succeeded Whitaker on November 16, 2009. Governor Bill Walker conversation

In 2014, Whitaker was selected to be Governor Bill Walker's Chief of Staff.

References

External links

Jim Whitaker
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' 1950 births Alaska city council members American art dealers Businesspeople from Fairbanks, Alaska Living people Mayors of Fairbanks, Alaska Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives People from Bremerton, Washington {{Alaska-mayor-stub