Sam Kito III (born 1964) is an American politician from
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., ...
. 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 ...
Juneau
The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...
since his appointment in 2014 until 2019.
A lobbyist and civil engineer by trade, Kito was appointed to serve out the term of Beth Kerttula in House District 32 after she resigned in early 2014. Governor
Sean Parnell
Sean Randall Parnell (born November 19, 1962) is an American attorney and politician. He succeeded Sarah Palin in July 2009 to become the tenth governor of Alaska and served until 2014.Juneau Assemblyman
Jesse Kiehl
Jesse Kiehl (born April 17, 1976) is a Democratic member of the Alaska Legislature representing the State Senate's Q district and a former member of the Assembly of the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska.
Early life
Jesse Kiehl was born on A ...
and
Juneau School District
The Juneau School District (sometimes referred to as the Juneau Borough School District) is a school district in Juneau, Alaska. Its office is located in Downtown Juneau.
As of 2003 the Juneau School District's total enrollment was around 5,50 ...
budget committeewoman Catherine Reardon. He was sworn in on February 26, 2014, and joined the Democratic-led minority caucus.
After his appointment, Kito ran for election to a full term in House District 33 (due to redistricting) and won in a landslide over Republican Peter Dukowitz.
When the legislature eliminated per diem payments for any legislator who lived within 50 miles of the state capital of Juneau, he concluded he could not keep his daughter in college on his small legislative salary, so did not run for reelection. His compensation would have been cut from $82,488 to $50,400.
Personal life
Kito was born in
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 ...
and lives in Juneau. He is of Tlingit and Japanese heritage. He has a teenage daughter. His father, Sam Kito, Jr., is a long time lobbyist. He is named for his grandfather, Sam Kito, Sr., a resident of
Petersburg
Petersburg, or Petersburgh, may refer to:
Places Australia
*Petersburg, former name of Peterborough, South Australia
Canada
* Petersburg, Ontario
Russia
*Saint Petersburg, sometimes referred to as Petersburg
United States
*Peterborg, U.S. Virg ...
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...