James L. Sykes (born April 8, 1950) is a producer and elected official in the state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

notable for being one of the founders of the Green Party of Alaska.

Early life and career

Jim Sykes was born in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

and moved to Alaska ca. 1976. Sykes spent many years living and working in both

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...

and

Talkeetna Talkeetna ( Dena'ina: ''K'dalkitnu'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 1,055, up from 876 in 2010. Geography Talkeetna is located at the confluence of ...

. Sykes's professional experience includes work for the Alaska Native Review Commission, public radio stations

KSKA KSKA (91.1 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. The station airs public radio programming from the National Public Radio network and the BBC World Service. KSKA also airs some locally originated programmi ...

and KTNA, and as

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, thoug ...

of the Alaska Public Interest Research Group. He homesteaded in the community of Chase, near Talkeetna, and help to found the Chase Community Council. He and his wife currently live near Palmer in a

solar-power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic ...

straw-bale Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a number ...

house.

Green Party Activism

In 1990, Sykes became one of the founders of the Green Party of Alaska. As a result, Sykes initiated a lawsuit, ''Sykes v. Alaska'', relying heavily upon

case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of a ...

established in the earlier

ballot access Elections in the United States refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentraliz ...

lawsuits of Joe Vogler during the 1970s and 1980s. The lawsuit allowed the Green Party onto the ballot in similar fashion to the original ballot access status of the Alaskan Independence Party prior to its becoming a recognized political party. This lawsuit also led to the lessening of the threshold needed to become recognized as a political party in Alaska. In the 1990 gubernatorial election, Sykes ran as the Green Party nominee and garnered 3.3% of the vote. This established Alaska as the first state to obtain ballot access for the Green Party in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Sykes continued to be active in Green Party politics, running for the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

in twice in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. He received 7.24% of the vote in 2002 and 2.22% in 2004.

Mat-Su Borough Assembly

In 2013, Sykes ran against Doug Glenn for an open seat in District 1 on the non-partisan borough assembly of

Matanuska-Susitna Borough Matanuska-Susitna Borough (often referred to as the Mat-Su Borough) is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. Its county seat is Palmer, and the largest community is the census-designated place of Knik-Fairview. The borough is part o ...

. District 1 covers the eastern portion of the borough and includes

Butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a F ...

, Lazy Mountain, South Knik River, Farm Loop, South Fishhook, Buffalo Soapstone, Sutton, Chickaloon,

Glacier View Glacier View is a census-designated place (CDP) in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Anchorage Metropolitan Area. At the 2020 census the population was 375, up from 234 in 2010. The terminus of Matanuska Glac ...

and Lake Louise. On October 1, 2013 Sykes won by 69 votes. He succeeded Warren Keogh. Sykes did not run for reelection in the 2019 election. Tim Hale defeated Brian Endle for the District 1 seat.

Electoral history

References

External links

Jim Sykes Borough Member Assembly Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, Jim 1950 births Alaska Greens Living people Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska People from Palmer, Alaska Politicians from Rapid City, South Dakota Green Party of the United States politicians