Eric Croft

Eric Chancy Croft (born November 6, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician. Croft is a former Democratic state representative from Anchorage, Alaska. He was also a candidate in the August 2006 Democratic gubernatorial primary election in Alaska, following five terms representing Spenard in the state house. He received 23.1% of the vote, losing to 68.6% achieved by former governor Tony Knowles (D). Croft currently serves on Anchorage's school board.

Early and personal life

Eric Chancy Croft was born in Anchorage, Alaska on November 6, 1964 to Toni (née Williamson) and Leland Chancy Croft. His parents had recently came to Alaska from West Texas. His maternal grandfather, John Conwell Williamson (1912 – 2001), was a wildcatter in West Texas whose geology found more oil in Texas and New Mexico than any contemporary.^[1] His father served in the Alaska House and Alaska Senate, and was the Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Alaska governor in 1978.

Croft grew up in the South Addition neighborhood adjacent to downtown Anchorage, graduating from West Anchorage High School in 1982. He went on to Stanford University, earning an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering; his mother, uncle Ralph Ervin Williamson and sister Kymberly Croft Miller also graduated from Stanford. He then received a law degree from the University of California's Hastings College of Law.

Croft is an attorney in Alaska. He and his wife, Joanna Burke Croft, own Alaska Professional Testing, Inc. Joanna Croft, an architect by training, is also an alumnus of Stanford.

Political career

Eric Croft was first elected to the Alaska House in 1996, four years after graduating law school, and was reelected four times, facing generally nominal opposition in his Democratic Anchorage district. He is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and received both the 2003 NRA Defender of Freedom and Gun Rights Legislator of the Year awards. He is a strong supporter in Alaska's initiative process as well as a strong proponent of the prospective Alaska natural gas pipeline. A strong supporter of gender parity, he is "pro-choice," supporting a woman's right to privacy regarding her procreative rights but subject to the right to life of a viable fetus.

He announced his candidacy for Governor in 2006 focusing on natural resource issues and that Alaskans get their "fair share" of the state's resource wealth.

He joined with future Governor Sarah Palin to lodge an ethics complaint against ^[2] Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who later resigned from his office.

Electoral history

• 2006 race for Governor, primary
  • Tony Knowles (D), 68.6%
  • Eric Croft (D), 23.1%

References

External links

• Gubernatorial campaign site
• AKDemocrats.org page
• Eric Croft at 100 Years of Alaska's Legislature