Carl Eugene Moses (July 16, 1929 – April 30, 2014) was an American businessman from

Unalaska The City of Unalaska (; ) is the main population center in the Aleutian Islands. The city is in the Aleutians West Census Area, a regional component of the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Unalaska is located on Unalaska Isl ...

, Alaska who served in the

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska State 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 pe ...

from 1965 to 1973 as both a Republican and

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 (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, and was elected again to the House in 1992 running on the

Alaskan Independence Party The Alaskan Independence Party (AIP) is an Alaskan nationalist political party in the United States that advocates for an in-state referendum which would include the option of Alaska becoming an independent country. The party also supports gun r ...

ticket, later switched back to the Democrats, and served until 2007. Moses served a total of eleven full terms in the Alaska House, making him the longest-serving member in the history of that body. In the 2006 primary election, Moses was defeated for renomination by

Bryce Edgmon Bryce Edgmon (born May 3, 1961) is a member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 37th District. He served as speaker from 2017–2021. The district includes all or portions of the Kodiak Island Borough, Aleutians East Borou ...

, losing via a

coin toss A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a ...

after the election results wound up in court and were later certified by the state of Alaska as ending in a tie vote.

Early life

Carl Eugene Moses was born on July 16, 1929, in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

, of mixed

Aleut Aleuts ( ; (west) or (east) ) are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleuts and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska ...

and German heritage. He moved to Pauloff Harbor, Alaska, in 1933. He attended Edison Tech from 1954 to 1957, and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. He spent two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, and in 1960 moved to

King Cove, Alaska King Cove () is a city in Aleutians East Borough, Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 938, up from 792 in 2000, but at the 2020 census this had reduced to 757. Geography King Cove is located at . King Cove is on ...

. In 1966 he moved to Unalaska, and started a business called Carl's Commercial Co., eventually including a store, hotel and bar, of which he was owner and operator; in 1977, this was to become Carl's Inc., of which he remained president.

Political career

Moses served on the King Cove

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

from 1963 to 1964. In 1964 he was elected to the 12th Alaska House district as a Republican, defeating Democrat Niels P. Thomson 503 to 326 to replace Democratic incumbent

Arthur J. Harris Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

In 1966 he served a term on the

Alaska Rural Housing Board Alaska ( ) is a Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also ...

, and was re-elected to the House over former Democratic State Representative Charles J. Franz, 461 to 357. In 1968 he again defeated Franz, 461-388. By 1970, alienated like other Alaska Republicans such as

Wally Hickel Walter Joseph Hickel (August 18, 1919 – May 7, 2010) was an American businessman, real estate developer, and politician who served as the second governor of Alaska from 1966 to 1969 and 1990 to 1994, as well as U.S. Secretary of the Interior ...

by the

Nixon administration Richard Nixon's tenure as the 37th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974, in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office, the ...

, he had switched to the Democratic Party, and was re-elected without opposition. In 1972, after a

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

, he was replaced by fellow Democratic incumbent

Edward F. Naughton Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

. In 1973, he was appointed to a seat on the

Alaska Department of Fish and Game The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is a department within the government of Alaska. ADF&G's mission is to protect, maintain, and improve the fish, game, and aquatic plant resources of the state, and manage their use and development i ...

Board.

Return to the House

In 1992, Moses was elected to the 40th House district on the

ticket, defeating Democrat Dennis Robinson 1829 votes to 1600. He switched his party affiliation back to the Democratic Party on May 24, 1994 (at around the same time that incumbent Governor

, also elected on the AIP ticket, returned to the Republicans), and continued to serve in the House, winning races as a Democrat with 87% of the vote or more until the 2004 election, which he won with 2652 votes to 1527 for his Republican opponent. In August 2006, an ill Moses returned to Juneau to cast a critical vote that insured passage of a bill giving tax breaks to the oil industry, shortly after receiving campaign contributions from

Bill Allen Bill Allen may refer to: * Bill Allen (footballer) (1889–1948), Australian footballer and cricketer * William McPherson Allen (1900–1985), CEO of Boeing * Bill Allen (British politician) (1901–1973), MP for West Belfast * Bill "Hoss" Alle ...

and five other VECO executives, the only Democrat to receive any from that source.

Coin toss loss

In the 2006 Democratic

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

for the House seat, Moses was tied with

at 767 votes each. There was a

to determine the winner, and Moses lost. Moses ran a write-in campaign against Edgmon and Republican nominee Ron Bowers. Edgmon won, with 2020 votes to 950 for Moses and 812 for Bowers. In 2019, Edgmon was elected by a bipartisan majority coalition as House Speaker and was the first Alaska Native to hold the position.

The Aleut Corporation

Moses served from 1974 to 1978 as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

The Aleut Corporation The Aleut Corporation, or TAC, is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. The Aleut Corporation was incorporated in Alaska on ...

. In December 1978, a court ruled that Moses had orchestrated "inaccurate, false and misleading statements" during the April 1977 election for

corporate directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

, and ordered a new election. Moses eventually resigned his position as president, and was later sued by the Corporation for an alleged conspiracy involving unwise real estate purchases in a subdivision. In 2008 Moses began a new term on the Corporation's board of directors.

Death

Carl Moses died April 30, 2014, in

Sand Point, Alaska Sand Point, also known as Popof Island, is a city in Aleutians East Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 976, up from 952 in 2000, but by the 2020 Census this had reduced to 578. It is on northwestern Popof ...

, at age 84.

References

External links

Carl Moses
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moses, Carl E. 1929 births 2014 deaths 20th-century members of the Alaska Legislature 21st-century Alaska politicians Alaska city council members Alaska Democrats 20th-century Alaska Native people 21st-century Alaska Native people Alaska Republicans Alaskan Independence Party politicians American people of Aleut descent American people of German descent Businesspeople from Alaska Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Alaska Native American state legislators in Alaska People from Aleutians East Borough, Alaska People from Santa Cruz, California People from Unalaska, Alaska University of Washington alumni 20th-century American businesspeople Democratic Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives