{{short description|American attorney residing in Alaska (born 1943)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Notability|Biography|date=August 2023}}
[[File:Dan Sullivan and Wayne Anthony Ross at gun show, Anchorage, Alaska, May 2017.jpg|thumb|Wayne Anthony Ross and Dan Sullivan at a gun show held at the Ben Boeke Ice Rink in May 2017.]] '''Wayne Anthony Ross''' (February 25, 1943 - April 18, 2026) was an American attorney residing in Alaska. In 2009, Ross was nominated to be Alaska Attorney General by then Governor Sarah Palin.<ref>[https://www.adn.com/article/20090326/wayne-anthony-ross Wayne Anthony Ross], ''[Anchorage Daily News]'', March 24, 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2016.</ref> His nomination was rejected by the Alaska Legislature on April 16, 2009.<ref name="adn-rejects">{{cite news|work=Anchorage Daily News |title=Lawmakers reject Ross as attorney general |url=http://www.adn.com/front/story/762037.html |date=April 16, 2009 |accessdate=April 16, 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418201123/http://www.adn.com/front/story/762037.html |archivedate=April 18, 2009 }}</ref> Ross was a director of the National Rifle Association of America until his death, and previously served as its vice president.<ref name = "adn-names">{{cite news | url = http://www.adn.com/front/story/737638.html | title = Palin names Ross attorney general | work = Anchorage Daily News | date = March 26, 2009 | accessdate = April 16, 2009}}</ref><ref>[https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/nra-board-members-selleck-nugent Meet the NRA's Board of Directors], ''Mother Jones'', January 16, 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2016.</ref> Ross passed away on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at the age of 83.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2026-04-22 |title=NRA Annual Meeting Report, Part 1 - |url=https://onlygunsandmoney.com/?p=36148 |access-date=2026-04-22 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Biography==
Ross has been active in Alaska politics for decades, running in the Republican gubernatorial primaries twice and serving on Palin's gubernatorial campaign.<ref name="adn-names"/> He has been active in lobbying for gun rights and against gun control, and in the pro-life movement.{{cn|date=August 2023}}
Ross' nomination to be Alaska Attorney General was controversial. In 1993, he wrote a letter to the state bar association, arguing against a law which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.{{cn|date=August 2023}} In the letter, Ross wrote: "This bill seems to give extra rights to a group whose lifestyle was a crime only a few years ago, and whose beliefs are certainly immoral in the eyes of anyone with some semblance of intelligence and moral character." He went on to describe gay Alaskans as "degenerates" who engage in "sexual perversion".<ref name="daily-miner-ed">{{cite news | work = Fairbanks Daily News-Miner | title = Reject Ross | url = http://newsminer.com/news/2009/apr/16/reject-ross/?opinion | date = April 16, 2009 | accessdate = April 16, 2009}}</ref><ref name="nyt">{{cite news | work = New York Times | title = For Gov. Palin, a Rough Return to the Day Job | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/us/politics/16palin.html | date = April 15, 2009 | accessdate = April 16, 2009 | first = William | last = Yardley}}</ref> Questioned about these statements during his confirmation hearings, Ross compared his distaste for homosexuals to his distaste for lima beans,<ref name="daily-miner-ed"/> and stated that he would uphold state laws regardless of his personal opinions on homosexuality or lima beans.<ref name="adn-stands-up">{{cite news|title=Ross stands up to grilling in House |work=Anchorage Daily News |url=http://www.adn.com/politics/story/756118.html |date=April 11, 2009 |accessdate=April 16, 2009 |first=Sean |last=Cockerham |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414103613/http://www.adn.com/politics/story/756118.html |archivedate=April 14, 2009 }}</ref> Ultimately, Ross' nomination was rejected by the Alaska Legislature on April 16, 2009, by a vote of 35{{spaced ndash}}23, the first time an Alaska Governor's cabinet appointee failed confirmation.<ref name="adn-rejects"/>
Ross passed away on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at the age of 83.<ref name=":0" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Wayne}} Category:1943 births Category:Alaska lawyers Category:Alaska Republicans Category:Living people Category:Lawyers from Anchorage, Alaska
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