Randell Ernest "Randy" Phillips (born August 30, 1950) is a retired politician from the U.S. state 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., ...

. Phillips served for twenty-six years 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 ...

member of 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 ...

and the

Alaska Senate The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or rejecting gub ...

, from 1977 to 2003. Phillips was born in Seattle, Washington, on August 30, 1950. He came to Alaska with his family in 1956. He received 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 ...

from Alaska Methodist University in 1973. He established residency in Eagle River, along the

Glenn Highway The Glenn Highway (part of Alaska Route 1) is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, extending from Anchorage near Merrill Field to Glennallen on the Richardson Highway. The Tok Cut-Off is often considered part of the Glenn Highway, for a tota ...

north of

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 ...

. He worked as a legislative aide in the 9th Alaska State Legislature before running for the House himself in 1976. He was elected to the four-member 8th District, which stretched from the Anchorage neighborhoods Mountain View and Muldoon, out the Glenn Highway to Eagle River,

Chugiak Chugiak is an unincorporated community in the Municipality of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska, situated approximately northeast of downtown Anchorage. Geography Chugiak is located between Eagle River to the south and Eklutna to the nort ...

and

Eklutna Eklutna (; Dena'ina: ''Idlughet''; Ahtna: ''Zdlaaygha'') is a native village within the Municipality of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. The Tribal Council estimates the population at 70; many tribal members live in the surrounding communit ...

. In his first term in the 10th Alaska State Legislature, Phillips was named Outstanding Freshman Legislator. In his second term, he was the second-youngest member of the House by only one day, being born the day after

Ray Metcalfe Ray Metcalfe (born August 29, 1950) is a politician and political activist in Alaska. Metcalfe has served in the Alaska House of Representatives as a Republican between 1979 and 1983, been active as an activist with the Republican Moderate Party ...

. He served in the House until 1993; following

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 ...

during the 1980s, he represented the two-member 15th District, which pared his constituency down to the Chugiak and Eagle River areas. His tenure in the Alaska Senate lasted from 1993 to 2003. He said his decision to retire from the legislature was prompted by redistricting that drastically altered his district. The redistricting in question placed Phillips in District P, which reached from the eastern and southern portions of Eagle River to northeast and south Anchorage, Whittier and the northeastern

Kenai Peninsula The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe ...

, mostly connecting through

Chugach State Park Chugach State Park covers 495,204 acres (2,004 square kilometers) immediately east of the Anchorage Bowl in south-central Alaska. Though primarily in the Municipality of Anchorage, a small portion of the park north of the Eklutna Lake area in th ...

. Phillips would have had to run against south Anchorage representative Con Bunde (who did win the seat and served until his retirement in 2011) in a district largely removed from his traditional constituency. From 1987 to 1991, Phillips was tied with fellow 15th District representative Sam Cotten as the senior member of the House. Cotten was elected to the Senate in 1990, which left Phillips as the senior member in his final term. Following the 1994 reelection defeat of Jalmar M. Kerttula, Phillips was tied with Tim Kelly from 1995 to 2001 as the senior member of the legislature. Kelly was also first elected to the House from the 8th District in 1976. Kelly's retirement left Phillips as the senior member of the legislature in his final two years in office.''Peninsula Clarion''
"Randy Phillips stepping down from Senate post," June 20, 2002
accessed December 29, 2011 In the overall history of the Alaska Legislature, Phillips is the third-longest-serving member; if the

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

legislature is excluded, Phillips is second behind Kerttula. At the conclusion of the 27th Alaska State Legislature, his length of service will be tied by both

Johnny Ellis Johnny Ellis (March 13, 1960 – February 9, 2022) was an American politician who served as a member of the Alaska Senate from 1992 to 2017. He was previously a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1986 through 1992. Early life a ...

and

Lyman Hoffman Lyman F. Hoffman (born February 13, 1950) is a Yup'ik politician and registered Democrat who caucuses with the Republicans in the Alaska Senate. He represents the S district since 1995, and from 1991 through 1992 previously. He was a member of ...

; the former was the same age as Phillips when he was first elected to the legislature. His papers are held at the Consortium Library of the

University of Alaska Anchorage The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna College, and Prin ...

and

Alaska Pacific University Alaska Pacific University (APU) is a private university in Anchorage, Alaska. It was established as Alaska Methodist University in 1957. Although it was renamed to Alaska Pacific University in 1978, it is still affiliated with the United Methodi ...

, the latter the lineal descendant of his alma mater AMU.

References

Sources

* State of Alaska Division of Elections
Senate District L, Randy Phillips, Republican
accessed December 29, 2011 * UAA/APU Consortium Library

accessed December 29, 2011

External links

Randy Phillips
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Randy 1950 births Alaska Pacific University alumni Republican Party Alaska state senators Living people Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Politicians from Seattle