Edgar Omegitjoak Blatchford (born November 24, 1950) is an American politician, academic, and attorney who served as the mayor of

Seward, Alaska Seward (Alutiiq language, Alutiiq: ; Denaʼina language, Dena'ina: ''Tl'ubugh'') is an incorporated home rule city in Alaska, United States. Located on Resurrection Bay, a fjord of the Gulf of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is situated ...

. Blatchford sought the 2016 Democratic Party nomination for

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, losing the nomination in the Alaskan primary to Ray Metcalfe. Blatchford ran two more unsuccessful campaigns for U.S. Senate in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Blatchford also filed to run for lieutenant governor in the 2018 Democratic primary. He dropped out of the race on June 8. Blatchford has been a professor at the

University of Alaska Anchorage The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna C ...

since 1995, teaching in the Department of Journalism and Public Communications. Blatchford also served as Commissioner of the Department of Community and Regional Affairs (1990–1994) under

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 ...

and Commissioner of Community and Economic Development (2003–2005) under

Frank Murkowski Frank Hughes Murkowski (born March 28, 1933) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a United States Senate, United States Senator representing Alaska from 1981 to 2002 and as t ...

Early life and education

Edgar Omegitjoak Blatchford was born in Nome, Alaska Territory in 1950 and relocated to

in 1960. Blatchford graduated from Seward High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Alaska Pacific University Alaska Pacific University (APU) is a private university in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. It was established as Alaska Methodist University in 1957. Although it was renamed to Alaska Pacific University in 1978, it is still affiliated with the ...

, Juris Doctor from the

University of Washington School of Law The University of Washington School of Law is the law school of the University of Washington, located on the northwest corner of the main campus in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. The school is fully accredited by the American Bar Asso ...

, Masters of Arts degree in journalism from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and PhD from the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-, National Sea Grant College Program, sea-, and National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, space-grant research university in ...

Career

Blatchford founded the publishing company Alaska Newspapers, Inc. in 1983. In 1990, Blatchford partnered with Calista Native Corporation to procure a total of six rural Alaskan newspapers. ANI was chartered to serve sparsely populated regions in Alaska to include parts of the Kenai Peninsula, Bristol Bay, Prince William Sound, the Aleutian Islands and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. In 2011, Blatchford purchased The Tundra Drums and Seward Phoenix Log from Calista Corp.; subsequently, Calista liquidated its share in the remaining newspapers in August 2011. Blatchford worked as a member of

's cabinet in developing the Community Development Quotas program aimed at providing educational and vocational opportunities to rural Alaskans in Bristol Bay and other western Alaskan communities. In 1999, he unseated incumbent mayor Bob Satin to be elected mayor of

. He was reelected mayor in 2001. Blatchford was appointed commissioner of Community and Economic Development in January 2003 by governor Frank Murkowski. Murkowski cited Blatchford's prior experience as commissioner of Community and Regional Affairs under governor Hickel as a prime reason for Blatchford's selection. On July 22, 2005, Blatchford resigned his position as commissioner of Community and Economic Development due to conflict of interest allegations between his official state duties and ties with Chugach Alaska Corp.

Political positions

Until the 2016 Alaskan Senate race, Blatchford had been affiliated with the Republican Party, switching parties due to ideological reasons. He strongly supports reform of the 1971

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by U.S. President, President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting what is still the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to reso ...

(ANCSA), saying that it was an experiment that did not accomplish what it was charted to do.

Gun control

Blatchford is an advocate of background checks for gun ownership and states that his stance is in line with the intent of the

Second Amendment The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

Illegal immigration

Blatchford supports a path for citizenship or other legal status for those illegal immigrants without criminal records.

Alaskan economy

Blatchford believes smaller Alaskan communities would benefit from a more diverse economic base.

Climate change

Blatchford believes

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

is a scientific certainty that must be addressed. He wants Alaska to increase its prominence in studying climate change and the Arctic.

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blatchford, Edgar 1952 births 20th-century mayors of places in Alaska Alaska Democrats Alaska Pacific University alumni American newspaper publishers (people) Businesspeople from Alaska Candidates in the 2020 United States Senate elections Candidates in the 2022 United States Senate elections Candidates in the 2022 United States elections Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Living people Mayors of places in Alaska State cabinet secretaries of Alaska University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni University of Washington School of Law alumni