Stephen Alan "Steve" McAlpine (born May 23, 1949) is an American lawyer and politician. McAlpine served as the fifth

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

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 ...

from 1982 until 1990.

Early life

Stephen Alan McAlpine was born in

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The unin ...

on May 23, 1949, the fourth child of Robert E. and Myrtle B. (née Loomis) McAlpine. He attended school in Yakima, as well as two years at Maryknoll Seminary in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is th ...

. He attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

, graduating with a degree in history and political science. He later graduated from the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

School of Law in 1976 with a J.D. degree. McAlpine originally came to Alaska in 1970 accompanied by a friend from college, Mano Frey. The two visited Alaska while taking a break from studies and decided to stay, settling in Valdez. They worked construction during the building of the trans-Alaska pipeline. McAlpine continued law school until he graduated, while Frey would go on to become a major labor union figure in Alaska, serving as head of Alaska's AFL-CIO from 1984 to 2002.

Law career

In 1977, McAlpine partnered with James D. Ginotti in the Law Firm of Ginotti & McAlpine, PC. Following the end of his tenure in elected office (see below), McAlpine moved to

Anchorage, Alaska 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 resumed the practice of law, which he continues to the present day.

Political career

Local politics

During the late 1970s, McAlpine was elected to the Valdez city council and went on to serve two terms as mayor of Valdez.

Lieutenant governor

In 1982, he was elected as lieutenant governor of Alaska, serving with Governor

Bill Sheffield William Jennings Sheffield Jr. (June 26, 1928 – November 4, 2022) was an American Democratic politician who was the fifth governor of Alaska from 1982 to 1986. Sheffield's term in the governor's mansion was marked by controversy including att ...

, an Anchorage hotelier. Sheffield, plagued by various scandals in his administration during his term as governor, lost renomination in the 1986

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

Steve Cowper Stephen Cambreleng Cowper (born August 21, 1938) is an American Democratic politician who was the sixth governor of Alaska from 1986–90. He was governor during the 1989 ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill. Cowper is the CEO of Steve Cowper & Associat ...

, a Fairbanks lawyer and former

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

. McAlpine won renomination as lieutenant governor, however, and in the general election, was reelected alongside Cowper. As his tenure as lieutenant governor occurred during the ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill, McAlpine found himself the subject of national media attention, particularly given his ties to Valdez. McAlpine later ran for governor, but lost in the primary election to Tony Knowles.

Legacy

McAlpine holds a number of distinctions resulting from his tenure as lieutenant governor. When elected in 1982, McAlpine was the first

baby boomer Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boo ...

elected to statewide office in Alaska. His election at age 33 made him the youngest person elected to statewide office in Alaska, which still stands today. He is also the only two-term lieutenant governor in the state's history to have served under different governors.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McAlpine, Stephen 1949 births Alaska city council members Alaska Democrats Alaska lawyers Lieutenant Governors of Alaska Living people Maryknoll Seminary alumni Mayors of Valdez, Alaska Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Yakima, Washington Seattle University School of Law alumni University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni Lawyers from Anchorage, Alaska