Dick Randolph

Richard L. "Dick" Randolph (born April 10, 1936) is a longtime insurance agency owner in Fairbanks, Alaska who is best known as the first person to be elected to partisan office under the banner of the Libertarian Party with his election to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1978. He was re-elected in 1980. He was instrumental in the repeal of the state income tax and saving the Alaska Permanent Fund, through effective use of the initiative process. He was also the LP's gubernatorial nominee in 1982, garnering nearly 15 percent of the vote.

Career

Dick Randolph was born in Salmon, Idaho and graduated from Idaho State College in 1960 with a B.A. in education. He moved to Alaska that same year to teach school, spending several years doing such in Valdez and South Naknek. He moved to Fairbanks in 1964 and founded a State Farm Insurance agency, becoming its top sales agent in the nation in 1965. He also served as the state president and national vice-president for the Jaycees before entering politics.

Politics

Randolph was first elected to the Alaska House in 1970 as a Republican. He was re-elected in 1972, but did not seek re-election in 1974, likely in protest of financial reporting laws which had just been enacted. A number of fellow legislators, also self-employed, had resigned from the legislature around this same time.

Dick Randolph joined the Libertarian Party (LP) in the wake of the 1976 presidential election, after having met its nominee Roger MacBride during one of his campaign trips to Alaska. For roughly the next 8 years, Randolph would serve as the public face of the LP in Alaska.

References

This article uses text taken from LPedia and Wikiberal under the GFDL.

Persondata
Name	Randolph, Dick
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	April 10, 1936
Place of birth	Salmon, Idaho
Date of death
Place of death