Dick Randolph

{{Infobox officeholder | name = Dick Randolph | image = Dick Randolph.jpg | alt = | office = Member of the Alaska House of Representatives | term_start = 1979 | term_end = 1983 | constituency = 20th district | predecessor =  | successor = John Ringstad | term_start2 = 1971 | term_end2 = 1975 | predecessor2 =  | successor2 =  | constituency2 = {{ubl|16th district (1971{{nbnd}}1973)|17th district (1973{{nbnd}}1975)}} | party = {{ubl|Republican|Libertarian ({{circa|1976}}{{nbnd}}1985)}} | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1936|4|10}} | birth_place = Salmon, Idaho, U.S. }}

'''Richard L. Randolph''' (born April 10, 1936) is a longtime insurance agency owner in Fairbanks, Alaska who is best known as the first person to be elected to partisan office under the banner of the Libertarian Party with his election to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1978. He was re-elected in 1980. After Alaska greatly increased its revenue from the development of oil, Randolph advocated the repeal of the state income tax. The effort was successful, with Alaska being one of only two states where residents pay neither an income nor a sales tax—the other being New Hampshire. He was also the LP's gubernatorial nominee in 1982, garnering nearly 15 percent of the vote.

==Career== Dick Randolph was born in Salmon, Idaho and graduated from Idaho State College in 1960 with a B.A. in education. He moved to Alaska that same year to become a teacher, spending several years doing such in Valdez and South Naknek. He moved to Fairbanks in 1964 and founded a State Farm Insurance agency, becoming its top sales agent in the nation in 1965. He also served as the state president and national vice-president for the Jaycees before entering politics.

==Politics== Randolph was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives as a Republican in the 1970 election.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 1981 |last=Phelps |first=Carolyn |title=Randolph Optimistic |page=2 |work=Colorado Liberty |url=https://lpedia.org/w/images/7/77/CO_COLib_1982-01_V3-N4.pdf }}</ref> He was re-elected in 1972, but did not seek re-election in 1974, likely in protest of financial reporting laws which had just been enacted. A number of fellow legislators, also self-employed, had resigned from the legislature around this same time.

Randolph managed Roger MacBride's presidential campaign in Alaska during the 1976 presidential election.<ref name="career" />

Running as a Libertarian in 1978 Randolph finished fifth out of 17 candidates, taking one of the six State House seats in District 20.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.elections.alaska.gov/Core/Archive/78GENR/78genr.pdf|title=1978 General Election Results – Alaska|publisher=Alaska Division of Elections}}</ref> He was re-elected in 1980, coming in first out of 18 candidates, with his fellow Libertarian Ken Fanning taking 4th and giving the Alaska LP two of the six seats in District 20.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.elections.alaska.gov/Core/Archive/80GENR/80genr.pdf|title=1980 General Election Results – Alaska|publisher=Alaska Division of Elections}}</ref> Randolph supported repealing Alaska's income tax in 1980.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 30, 2020 |last=Hsieh |first=Jeremy |title=Why isn't the Libertarian Party a bigger deal in Alaska? |work=KTOO |url=https://www.ktoo.org/2020/10/30/why-isnt-the-libertarian-party-a-bigger-deal-in-alaska/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206143441/https://www.ktoo.org/2020/10/30/why-isnt-the-libertarian-party-a-bigger-deal-in-alaska/ |archive-date=February 6, 2024}}</ref> He declined to seek reelection in the 1982 election.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 21, 1982 |title=Libertarians Make Push |page=3 |work=Daily Sitka Sentinel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-sitka-sentinel/140412491/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206233629/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-sitka-sentinel/140412491/ |archive-date=February 6, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

In May 1981, Randolph announced that he would run in the 1982 gubernatorial election.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 1981 |last=O'Keefe |first=Eric |title=Dick Randolph Seeks Alaska Governor's Post |page=1 |work=Colorado Liberty |url=https://lpedia.org/w/images/7/79/CO_COLib_1981-06_V3-N1.pdf }}</ref> Randolph and his running mate Donnis Thompson received nearly 15% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.elections.alaska.gov/Core/Archive/82GENR/82genr.pdf|title=1982 General Election Results – Alaska|publisher=Alaska Division of Elections}}</ref> He spent $500,000 during the campaign.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 1982 |last=Nolan |first=David |author-link=David Nolan (politician) |title=Colorado LP Vote Resists Nationwide Downtrend |page=1 |work=Colorado Liberty |url=https://lpedia.org/w/images/7/75/CO_COLib_1982-11_V4-N3.pdf }}</ref>

Randolph declined to run for the 1980 Libertarian presidential nomination after having his name put forward for the nomination by the then-chair of the Libertarian Party of Hawaii, and Ed Clark went on to become the party's presidential nominee.<ref name="career">{{Cite news |date=November 1979 |title=Libertarians Nominate Clark |page=1 |work=Colorado Liberty |url=https://lpedia.org/w/images/1/18/CO_COLib_1979-10_V1-N4.pdf }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} :''This article uses text taken from [http://www.lpedia.org/Dick_Randolph LPedia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922030035/http://www.lpedia.org/Dick_Randolph |date=2008-09-22 }} and [http://www.wikiberal.org/wiki/Dick_Randolf Wikiberal] under the GFDL''.

==External links== * [http://100years.akleg.gov/bio.php?id=1394 Richard Randolph] at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randolph, Dick}} Category:1936 births Category:Living people Category:Alaska Libertarians Category:American businesspeople in the insurance industry Category:Businesspeople from Fairbanks, Alaska Category:Idaho State University alumni Category:Insurance agents Category:Libertarian Party (United States) officeholders Category:Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Category:Politicians from Fairbanks, Alaska Category:People from Salmon, Idaho Category:People from Valdez, Alaska Category:People from Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska Category:20th-century members of the Alaska Legislature