Ray Metcalfe (born August 29, 1950) is a politician and political activist in

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., ...

. Metcalfe has 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 ...

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 ...

between 1979 and 1983, been active as an activist with the Republican Moderate Party founded by himself, and later became a

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 ...

, running unsuccessfully for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Personal life

Ray Metcalfe was born on the

Crow Indian Reservation The Crow Indian Reservation is the homeland of the Crow Tribe. Established 1868, the reservation is located in parts of Big Horn County, Montana, Big Horn, Yellowstone County, Montana, Yellowstone, and Treasure County, Montana, Treasure counties ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

, where he lived until he left home at the age of 15. He spent the next few years hitchhiking around the country, attending high schools in multiple cities and states until graduating from

Billings Senior High School Billings Senior High School, located in Billings, Montana, and part of the Billings Public Schools District, opened in 1940. Billings Senior High School is a comprehensive public institution. Notable alumni *Stanley Anderson, actor *John Bohlinge ...

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

in 1969. He then hitchhiked to

, arriving June 5, 1969 with a bedroll, a backpack and $52.00 in his pocket. His life in Alaska alternated between Alaska's oil fields and college, studying business and history until he opened Metcalfe Real Estate Company in 1976, which he operates to this day.

Political career

Metcalfe was twice elected to the

as a Republican. He formed the

Republican Moderate Party of Alaska The Republican Moderate Party of Alaska was a political party in Alaska formed by Ray Metcalfe in 1986 as an alternative to what Metcalfe perceived to be a Republican Party dominated by the religious right. History In 1986 former Republican sta ...

in 1986, to oppose the religious right who he felt had invaded and taken over the Republican Party, and ran for the Alaska House again attempting to beat the incumbent Republican he had lost his former seat to in 1982. Shortly after Metcalfe formed the RMP, the leaders of the Republican Party sued him for forming a group using the term "Republican" without their permission. Metcalfe won in Superior Court and the Republican Party did not appeal. The Superior Court had declared Metcalfe to be a "Public Litigant," "litigating in the public interest in defense of free speech for all." Consequently, under Alaska's court rules, the new leaders of the Republican Party were ordered to pay all Metcalfe's attorney fees. His political runs for the state House and the governor's office were unsuccessful but he received over 6% of the vote in the 1998 gubernatorial election, when the Republican vote had been split between three unsuccessful Republican candidates. In 2006, Metcalfe ran as a Democrat for the sole U.S. House seat from Alaska, coming in second to

Diane E. Benson Diane E. Benson (born May 10, 1954) is an Alaskan politician, writer and dramatist. She was the 2010 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Alaska, defeating three other opponents in the Democratic primary. Benson's running mate for gove ...

by receiving 34% of the vote in the Democratic primary. In 2008 the Republican Moderate Party lost its party status and remained as a political group, while the Citizens For Ethical Government Inc., a non profit political

watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watch Dog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet U ...

group, was created. Metcalfe again declared he was running as a Democrat, this time for the US Senate seat held by

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 ...

, but he lost in the 2008 Democratic primary. In 2016, Metcalfe lost his bid to become regional Co-Chair of the Anchorage branch of the Alaska Democratic Party to Joshua Spring by a two to one margin. In the August 16, 2016 primary, Metcalfe won the Democratic nomination to oppose Republican U.S. Senator

Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Alaska, having held that seat since 2002. Murkowski is the second-most senior Republican woman in the Senate, after S ...

.
/ref> On November 8, 2016 he placed fourth in the general election behind Murkowski (44%),

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

Joe Miller (30%), and

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Margaret Stock (14%). Metcalfe received 11% of the vote.

References

External links

Ray Metcalfe for US Senate 2016 on Facebook

Citizens for Ethical Government Inc. official website
* * ''Follow the Money'' — Ray Metcalf *
20022000
House campaign contributions *
1998
Governor/Lieutenant Governor campaign contributions
Ray Metcalfe
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Metcalfe, Ray 1950 births 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Alaska Democrats Alaska Republicans American real estate businesspeople Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Candidates in the 2006 United States elections Candidates in the 2008 United States elections Candidates in the 2016 United States Senate elections Living people Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Billings, Montana Republican Moderate Party of Alaska politicians State political party chairs of Alaska

Personal life

Political career

See also

References

External links