Digital Bob Archive

Alaska Elections, V: In Alaska's first five General Elections, 1906 to 1914, inclusive, the offices to be filled were all, at least technically, federal. They had been created by Act of Congress and the incumbents, including the 24 legislators, were paid by the federal government.

The first truly territorial office, that of Treasurer, was created by the First Territorial Legislature in 1913 but was made appointive and did not become elective until 1930. At that time, under federal law, the Governor of Alaska was ex-officio Superintendent of Public Instruction. In 1915 the Legislature also established four road districts, one in each judicial division and each with a Road Commissioner. The first Commissioners were appointed by the Legislature, but in 1918 and afterward they were elected in the General Elections. In 1920 and thereafter until that system of road construction was abolished in 1941, two Road Commissioners were elected in each of the four road districts.

In 1917 the same man who introduced the Primary Election bill, Ole Peter Gaustad of Fairbanks, also dropped in one providing for the election of National Committeemen and Women and Delegates and Alternates to the national conventions of the respective parties. These purely party officials first appeared on the Primary Election ballot in 1920 and each four years thereafter. It sometimes made for a very crowded ballot; in 1928, for example, 17 Democrats and five Republicans sought seats in their respective national conventions. The law was repealed in 1933 and was reinstated in 1953, but only briefly.

The offices of Treasurer, Auditor, Highway Engineer and Commissioner of Education were added to the ballot in 1930, and the Labor Commissioner appeared on the ballot for the first time in 1942. The office of Commissioner of Education was last filled by election in 1932.

For the 1944 election, Congress increased the Legislature from 24 to 40 members and apportioned membership in the House: 8 for Southeastern, 7 for the Anchorage division, 5 for Fairbanks and 4 for Nome. Starting in 1952 this changed again, to 6, 10, 5 and 3 for the respective divisions. The ballot then remained stable until statehood when the Legislature was increased to 60 members and all department heads were made appointive.