.gif)
Tony Knowles (politician)
Encyclopedia
Anthony Carroll Knowles (born January 1, 1943) is an American
Democratic
politician and businessman who served as the seventh Governor of Alaska from December 1994 to December 2002. Barred from seeking a third consecutive term as governor in 2002, he ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2004 and again for governor in 2006.
in 1962, joining the 82nd Airborne Division
, and later served in Vietnam
. Knowles achieved passage of legislation to create guaranteed veterans housing in the state's Pioneer's Homes, and honored their service through official days of recognition and the naming of Mount POW/MIA
.
He earned a degree in economics
from Yale University
in 1968. There, he was a Delta Kappa Epsilon
fraternity (Phi chapter) brother of George W. Bush
. After graduation, he moved to Alaska and worked on oil drilling rigs on the North Slope
and in Cook Inlet
. In 1969, Knowles started his first of four restaurants including the Downtown Deli & Café in Anchorage.
An avid fly fisherman, cross country skier, and (retired) marathon runner, Tony Knowles and his wife Susan currently reside in Anchorage, Alaska. They have three children, Devon, Luke, and Sara. His older brother, Porter Knowles, resides in Kansas.
. In 1994, he defeated former lieutenant governor Stephen McAlpine
in the Democratic primary and was elected governor in the general election
. Knowles's election was surprisingly close, but he also benefitted from the split conservative vote due to a strong third-party gubernatorial bid by the sitting lieutenant governor. In the election, Knowles received 41.1%, Republican candidate Jim Campbell 40.8% and lieutenant governor Jack Coghill
of the Alaskan Independence Party
13%.
Knowles won the 1998 election in a landslide, defeating Republican John Lindauer 51%-18%. Knowles's margin of victory in this race was due largely to a collapsed campaign from Republican John Lindauer, controversy surrounding Lindauer and his misrepresentation of facts on campaign finance documents, and questions about Lindauer's state residency. Republican Robin L. Taylor
, who was defeated in the primary by Lindauer, garnered 20% of the vote after announcing his write-in campaign only one week prior to the election. Knowles did not run for reelection in 2002 due to a consecutive two-term limit. Alaska law allows for more terms, but requires a break between two consecutive terms and a third.
Knowles was chair of the Western Governors' Association in 1997, two-term chair of the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission, and a member of the Pew Oceans Commission (POC).
During his term, Knowles established Denali Kid Care, which provided basic health care for 25,000 children and 5,000 pregnant women. The National Child Welfare League named Knowles as their Child Advocate of the Year in 1998.
A strong supporter of the Alaska National Guard
, Knowles was recipient of the Guard's Pro Patria award and the 2001 Charles Dick Silver Medal of Merit.
Governor Knowles forged the "Millennium Agreement", a government-to-government agreement with tribes to foster rural delivery of services and economic development. He earned special recognition by the National Congress of American Indians
in 2001 and, with Marshall Lind, the 2002 Alaska Federation of Natives
Denali Award
, the highest award given to a non-native.
Knowles pushed Canadian
officials to adopt his "safe passage" principle to protect Pacific salmon and their freshwater habitat
, leading to the successful negotiation of the first coast wide salmon treaty in decades.
During his final term as governor, Republicans in the Alaska Legislature
attacked him as a weak leader who avoided taking a position on several issues, as exemplified by their "Where's Tony?" campaign.
In 2004, he ran for the United States Senate
, as the Democratic challenger to Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski
, who had been appointed to her seat by her father, former Senator then Governor Frank Murkowski
. Knowles was at first thought likely to win by many, but he was narrowly defeated in the election.
Knowles is an outspoken opponent of capital punishment
.
Knowles is pro-choice, and opposes restrictions on abortion at any stage of pregnancy. He vetoed several bills passed by the state legislature regarding abortion including a ban on intact dilation and extraction abortions
.
On May 29, 2006, he announced his bid to return to the governor's office in 2006. On August 22, 2006, Knowles defeated Eric Croft
in the Democratic primary to become the Democratic nominee for Governor of Alaska in the general election.
On November 7, 2006, Knowles lost the Governorship in the general election to Republican Sarah Palin
. Although many had predicted a close race, including pollsters for both parties, Knowles lost by 7 points, polling lower than in his 2004 bid for the U.S. Senate.
's family foundation, and located at the University of Tulsa
.
Due to his early support for Barack Obama
, his status as a former governor of a western state, and his long-term involvement in oil and energy concerns, Knowles was discussed as a potential Secretary of the Interior
or Secretary of Energy in an Obama cabinet. In December 2008 Knowles was passed over in favor of Steven Chu
as Energy secretary, and passed over in favor of Ken Salazar
as Interior secretary. On April 28, 2010, Knowles was appointed to the National Park System Advisory Board by Ken Salazar.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politician and businessman who served as the seventh Governor of Alaska from December 1994 to December 2002. Barred from seeking a third consecutive term as governor in 2002, he ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2004 and again for governor in 2006.
Earlier life
Knowles was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He volunteered for the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in 1962, joining the 82nd Airborne Division
U.S. 82nd Airborne Division
The 82nd Airborne Division is an active airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute landing operations. Based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is the primary fighting arm of the XVIII Airborne Corps....
, and later served in Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Knowles achieved passage of legislation to create guaranteed veterans housing in the state's Pioneer's Homes, and honored their service through official days of recognition and the naming of Mount POW/MIA
Mount POW/MIA
Mount POW/MIA is a mountain in the U.S. state of Alaska that has been dedicated to all the soldiers that are or have been given the status of Prisoner of War or Missing in Action . The mountain is just north of Eklutna Lake and is west of Twin peaks and Bull Peak...
.
He earned a degree in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1968. There, he was a Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
fraternity (Phi chapter) brother of George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. After graduation, he moved to Alaska and worked on oil drilling rigs on the North Slope
Alaska North Slope
The Alaska North Slope is the region of the U.S. state of Alaska located on the northern slope of the Brooks Range along the coast of two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, the Chukchi Sea being on the western side of Point Barrow, and the Beaufort Sea on the eastern.The region contains the...
and in Cook Inlet
Cook Inlet
Cook Inlet stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage....
. In 1969, Knowles started his first of four restaurants including the Downtown Deli & Café in Anchorage.
An avid fly fisherman, cross country skier, and (retired) marathon runner, Tony Knowles and his wife Susan currently reside in Anchorage, Alaska. They have three children, Devon, Luke, and Sara. His older brother, Porter Knowles, resides in Kansas.
Political career
After three terms in the Anchorage Assembly, he served two terms as mayor of Anchorage from 1981 to 1987. Knowles first ran for governor in 1990, but was defeated by Walter HickelWalter Joseph Hickel
Walter Joseph "Wally" Hickel was an industrialist, focused mostly on construction and real estate development, and a politician of the Republican and Alaskan Independence parties from the U.S. state of Alaska. Hickel served as the second and eighth Governor of Alaska...
. In 1994, he defeated former lieutenant governor Stephen McAlpine
Stephen McAlpine
Stephen Alan McAlpine was the seventh Lieutenant Governor of Alaska from 1982 to 1990.Stephen McAlpine was born in Yakima, Washington, the fourth child of Robert E. and Myrtle B. McAlpine. He attended school in Yakima, but two years at Maryknoll Seminary in Mt. View, California...
in the Democratic primary and was elected governor in the general election
Alaska gubernatorial election, 1994
The 1994 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1994 for the post of Governor of Alaska. Democratic candidate Tony Knowles narrowly defeated Republican candidate Jim Campbell and Lieutenant Governor Jack Coghill of the Alaskan Independence Party...
. Knowles's election was surprisingly close, but he also benefitted from the split conservative vote due to a strong third-party gubernatorial bid by the sitting lieutenant governor. In the election, Knowles received 41.1%, Republican candidate Jim Campbell 40.8% and lieutenant governor Jack Coghill
Jack Coghill
John Bruce "Jack" Coghill was the eighth lieutenant governor of Alaska, serving from 1990 to 1994 under Governor Walter Hickel. Both were members of the Alaskan Independence Party...
of the Alaskan Independence Party
Alaskan Independence Party
The Alaskan Independence Party is a political party in the U.S. state of Alaska that advocates an in-state referendum which includes the option of Alaska becoming an independent country...
13%.
Knowles won the 1998 election in a landslide, defeating Republican John Lindauer 51%-18%. Knowles's margin of victory in this race was due largely to a collapsed campaign from Republican John Lindauer, controversy surrounding Lindauer and his misrepresentation of facts on campaign finance documents, and questions about Lindauer's state residency. Republican Robin L. Taylor
Robin L. Taylor
Robin L. Taylor is an American Republican Party politician, lawyer, and judge.-Early career:...
, who was defeated in the primary by Lindauer, garnered 20% of the vote after announcing his write-in campaign only one week prior to the election. Knowles did not run for reelection in 2002 due to a consecutive two-term limit. Alaska law allows for more terms, but requires a break between two consecutive terms and a third.
Knowles was chair of the Western Governors' Association in 1997, two-term chair of the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission, and a member of the Pew Oceans Commission (POC).
During his term, Knowles established Denali Kid Care, which provided basic health care for 25,000 children and 5,000 pregnant women. The National Child Welfare League named Knowles as their Child Advocate of the Year in 1998.
A strong supporter of the Alaska National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
, Knowles was recipient of the Guard's Pro Patria award and the 2001 Charles Dick Silver Medal of Merit.
Governor Knowles forged the "Millennium Agreement", a government-to-government agreement with tribes to foster rural delivery of services and economic development. He earned special recognition by the National Congress of American Indians
National Congress of American Indians
The National Congress of American Indians is a American Indian and Alaska Native indigenous rights organization. It was founded in 1944 in response to termination and assimilation policies that the U.S. government forced upon the tribal governments in contradiction of their treaty rights and...
in 2001 and, with Marshall Lind, the 2002 Alaska Federation of Natives
Alaska Federation of Natives
The Alaska Federation of Natives is the largest statewide Native organization in Alaska. Its membership includes 178 villages , thirteen regional native corporations, and twelve regional nonprofit and tribal consortiums that contract and run federal and state programs...
Denali Award
Denali Award
Various organizations give awards named after Denali, the highest peak in North America.*The top honor that the Alaska Federation of Natives bestows to non-Natives,*The highest award in Varsity Scouting,...
, the highest award given to a non-native.
Knowles pushed Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
officials to adopt his "safe passage" principle to protect Pacific salmon and their freshwater habitat
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
, leading to the successful negotiation of the first coast wide salmon treaty in decades.
During his final term as governor, Republicans in the Alaska Legislature
Alaska Legislature
The Alaska Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution, consisting of the lower Alaska House of Representatives, with 40 members, and the upper house Alaska Senate, with 20 members...
attacked him as a weak leader who avoided taking a position on several issues, as exemplified by their "Where's Tony?" campaign.
In 2004, he ran for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, as the Democratic challenger to Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski. After losing a Republican primary in 2010, she became the second person ever to win a U.S...
, who had been appointed to her seat by her father, former Senator then Governor Frank Murkowski
Frank Murkowski
Francis Hughes Murkowski is an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He was a United States Senator from Alaska from 1981 until 2002 and the eighth Governor of Alaska from 2002 until 2006.- Early life and career :...
. Knowles was at first thought likely to win by many, but he was narrowly defeated in the election.
Knowles is an outspoken opponent of capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
.
Knowles is pro-choice, and opposes restrictions on abortion at any stage of pregnancy. He vetoed several bills passed by the state legislature regarding abortion including a ban on intact dilation and extraction abortions
Intact dilation and extraction
Intact dilation and extraction is a procedure done in late term abortion. It is also known as intact dilation and evacuation, dilation and extraction , intrauterine cranial decompression and, vernacularly in the United States, as partial birth abortion...
.
On May 29, 2006, he announced his bid to return to the governor's office in 2006. On August 22, 2006, Knowles defeated Eric Croft
Eric Croft
Eric Croft was a Democratic State Representative from Anchorage, Alaska and was a candidate in the August 2006 Democratic gubernatorial primary election in Alaska...
in the Democratic primary to become the Democratic nominee for Governor of Alaska in the general election.
On November 7, 2006, Knowles lost the Governorship in the general election to Republican Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
. Although many had predicted a close race, including pollsters for both parties, Knowles lost by 7 points, polling lower than in his 2004 bid for the U.S. Senate.
Obama Administration
In September 2008 Knowles became president of the National Energy Policy Institute, a non-profit energy policy organization funded by billionaire George KaiserGeorge Kaiser
George B. Kaiser is an American businessman. He is the Chairman of BOK Financial Corporation. He is among the top 100 richest people in the world and one of the top 50 American philanthropists.-Early life and career:...
's family foundation, and located at the University of Tulsa
University of Tulsa
The University of Tulsa is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is currently ranked 75th among doctoral degree granting universities in the nation by US News and World Report and is listed as one of the "Best 366 Colleges" by...
.
Due to his early support for Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, his status as a former governor of a western state, and his long-term involvement in oil and energy concerns, Knowles was discussed as a potential Secretary of the Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
or Secretary of Energy in an Obama cabinet. In December 2008 Knowles was passed over in favor of Steven Chu
Steven Chu
Steven Chu is an American physicist and the 12th United States Secretary of Energy. Chu is known for his research at Bell Labs in cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997, along with his scientific colleagues Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and...
as Energy secretary, and passed over in favor of Ken Salazar
Ken Salazar
Kenneth Lee "Ken" Salazar is the current United States Secretary of the Interior, in the administration of President Barack Obama. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United States Senator from Colorado from 2005 to 2009. He and Mel Martinez were the first Hispanic U.S...
as Interior secretary. On April 28, 2010, Knowles was appointed to the National Park System Advisory Board by Ken Salazar.