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

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 ...

, who helped found the Green Party of Alaska.

Early life and career

Sykes was born in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...

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

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

and Talkeetna. Sykes's professional experience includes work for the

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...

Review Commission,

public radio Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

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 NPR network and the BBC World Service. KSKA also airs some locally originated programming. Translator ...

and KTNA, and as executive director of the Alaska Public Interest Research Group. He homesteaded in the community of

Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national American financial institution * Chase UK, a British retail bank * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturer * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in ...

, near Talkeetna, and help to found the Chase Community Council. He and his wife currently live near

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and f ...

in a solar-powered straw-bale 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 a 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 ...

established in the earlier

ballot access Ballot access is rules and procedures regulating the right to candidacy, the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots in elections in the United States. The jurisprudence o ...

lawsuits of

Joe Vogler Joseph E. Vogler (April 24, 1913 – ) was an American politician and the founder of the Alaskan Independence Party. He was also chair or gubernatorial nominee during most of the party's existence. Originally known in his adopted hometown of Fa ...

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 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 ...

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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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

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

twice, in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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 ...

, receiving 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 nonpartisan borough assembly of Matanuska-Susitna Borough. District 1 covers the eastern portion of the borough and includes

Butte 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 the French l ...

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

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

, Chickaloon, Glacier View 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