Ralph Samuels (born December 1, 1961) is a businessman and a member 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 ...

and candidate for Governor of Alaska,name="adn.com"/www.adn.com/news/politics/story/1046926.html that served as a

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

of the

Alaska State Legislature The Alaska Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution consisting of the 40-member Alaska House of Representatives (lower house) and the 20-member Alaska Senate (upper house). There are 40 Hou ...

from 2002 to 2008 representing House District 29 and serving as the majority leader.

Educational background

Attended schools in Anchorage, King Salmon, and Fairbanks and graduated from Metlaktla

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in 1979. He attended the

University of Alaska The University of Alaska System is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was created in 1917 and comprises three separately accredited universities on 19 campuses. The system serves nearly 30,000 full- and part-time stud ...

, in

Fairbanks 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 ...

from 1980 to 1985.

Positions as a gubernatorial candidate

* Economy- One of the main planks for Samuels' candidacies, he claims, is to encourage economic development. In a recent article he was quoted saying, "As governor I'll work to encourage economic development. We'll look at the current tax structures to determine whether or not there's an opportunity to stem the recent rapid decline in oil production and oil exploration in Alaska," * Energy- In March 2007, when the

Governor of Alaska A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

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 ...

presented the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) to build a natural gas pipeline from the state's North Slope (with $500 million seed money from the state), Samuels was the only legislator who voted against the measure. * Taxes- He also was in a coalition that opposed the, then Governor Palin introduced, tax raise known as "ACES" (Alaskans Clear and Equitable Share)which made Alaska as the highest marginal tax rate in the world." * Family- In January, Samuels wrote a position statement in support of the initiative circulating the state attempting to re-instate parental/legal guardian notification of a minor to receive an

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

. In his article he claimed "...in our society that a parent must consent before a child gets her ears pierced or even receives an aspirin at school. The notion that a non-emergency medical procedure can be performed on a teenager, without a parent even knowing about it, strikes most people as absurd. Yet this is exactly what happens in Alaska." name="thealaskastandard.com"/http://www.thealaskastandard.com/content/government-gets-between-you-and-your-child See also Alaska Gas Pipeline.

Leadership positions in politics

* Served as majority leader of the Alaska House of Representatives (2006–2008)

Business and professional positions

* Airline executive for

Penair Peninsula Airways, operated as PenAir, was a U.S.-based regional airline headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. It was Alaska's second-largest commuter airline operating scheduled passenger service, as well as charter and medevac services through ...

(1980 to 2008) * Vice president for government and community affairs for tourism giant, Holland America Line (2008–present) * Member of the Alaska Air Carriers Association * Former chair of the

Anchorage 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 ...

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...

* Former board member of the State Chamber of Commerce

References

External links

* http://www.akrepublicans.org/samuels/index.php * https://web.archive.org/web/20080905130418/http://www.housemajority.org/samuels/index.php * https://web.archive.org/web/20110518222517/http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/house/sal.php * https://web.archive.org/web/20091214074014/http://www.adn.com/news/politics/story/1046926.html
Ralph Samuels
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuels, Ralph 1961 births American transportation businesspeople Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Living people Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni 21st-century American politicians