Douglas W. Isaacson (born October 18, 1957) is an American Republican politician and a former member of 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 District 1. He represented the 1st district from January 18, 2013 – January 15, 2015.

Early life and education

Douglas W. Isaacson was born on October 18, 1957, in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. He grew up in

Snohomish County Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 72nd-most popul ...

, north of Seattle, in Edmonds. He enlisted in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

shortly after graduating from high school and was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

translator in the military. He came to

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a 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 considered to be the north ...

as a result of being stationed at

Eielson Air Force Base Eielson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located approximately southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, and just southeast of Moose Creek, Alaska. It was established in 1943 as Mile 26 Satellite Field and redesignated Eielson Ai ...

and decided to remain in Alaska after leaving military service, settling in nearby

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

. Isaacson earned his BA in

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

from 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 ...

in Seattle; he received his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

divinity Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single ...

from Western Seminary in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

Political career

Mayor of North Pole

Isaacson was elected to the North Pole city council in 2000 serving until being elected North Pole's mayor in 2006. He faced a somewhat tumultuous tenure in office, which was also the case with a number of his predecessors. In 2009, he was reelected by only two votes over his predecessor, Jeff Jacobson. He survived a

recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of office has ended. Recalls ...

in 2010. Isaacson was term-limited in 2012 and decided instead to run for the

Alaska House of Representatives

* House District 1 was created by the Alaska Redistricting Board's Amended Proclamation Plan in 2012. Isaacson won the District 1 four-way August 28, 2012 Republican Primary with 770 votes (34.09%), and won the November 6, 2012 General election with 5,428 votes (77.43%) against Democratic nominee Janice Golub. In the 28th Legislature, Isaacson co-chaired the House Special Committee on Energy, was vice-chair of House Transportation, and served on the following committees: State Affairs, Joint Armed Services, and sub-finance committees for Corrections; Transportation; and Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Additionally, Isaacson was named to serve on the Council of State Governments as a member of the Energy and Environment Task Force; with the Council of State Governments West - (CSG West) and served on two committees: Canada Relations and Energy and Public Lands Committee; as an alternate member of the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER); and as an alternate member of the Energy Council's Energy Committee. Isaacson fought for reducing the price of consumer energy, and was vocal in pressing for a "cost or supply benefit" for in-state refining of Alaska's royalty oil share for in-state use as required by Alaska law, notably AS 38.05.183. A noteworthy accomplishment was in moving the State of Alaska to address the high cost of electricity throughout Alaska. Isaacson held three effective roundtables, two of which for the first time in legislative memory placed together the utility companies, the independent power producers, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, the Alaska Energy Authority, the American Transmission Company (Wisconsin), and legislators to discuss "Designing Alaska's Future: Removing Energy Gridlock." The goal of the roundtables was to move toward lowering rate payer costs by examining restructuring the management of electrical transmission, clarify regulatory needs, and open access issues. The first informal discussion was held in the Capital Building in Juneau, Alaska on January 31, 2014, and only included the Chairman of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. The second roundtable discussion was also held in the Capital on April 9, 2014; the third roundtable discussion was held at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office on September 5, 2014. * On July 14, 2013, owing to a lawsuit that had contested the 2012 Proclamation Plan, the Alaska Redistricting Board adopted its 2013 Proclamation Plan, which ultimately was passed by the Alaska Supreme Court, and which pitted against each other the two North Pole incumbents Tammie Wilson against the freshman Isaacson. In the newly created House District 3, Isaacson ultimately lost the August 19, 2014 primary race with 1415 votes (45.08%) to T. Wilson 1724 votes (54.92%).

References

External links

Official webpage
at the

Alaska Legislature The Alaska State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution consisting of the 40-member Alaska House of Representatives (lower house) and the 20-member Alaska Senate (upper house). There a ...

Campaign website
*
Doug Isaacson
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Isaacson, Doug 1957 births Alaska city council members Living people Mayors of places in Alaska Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives People from Edmonds, Washington People from North Pole, Alaska Politicians from Seattle United States Air Force airmen University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni Western Seminary alumni 21st-century members of the Alaska Legislature