Ray Metcalfe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Ray Metcalfe
Member of the Alaska State Senate from the district

Born	August 29, 1950 (1950-08-29) (age 57) Crow Indian Reservation
Political party	Republican
Residence	Anchorage, Alaska

Ray Metcalfe (born August 29, 1950) is a politician and political activist in Alaska. Metcalfe has served in the Alaska House of Representatives as a Republican, and is currently running for the United States Senate as a Democrat.

1 Personal life
2 Political career
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Personal life

Ray Metcalfe was born on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, where he lived until he left home at the age of fifteen. He spent the next few years hitchhiking around the country, attending high schools in multiple cities and states until graduating from Billings Senior High School in Billings, Montana in 1969. He then hitchhiked to Alaska, arriving June 5, 1969 with a bedroll, a backpack and $53.00 in his pocket.

His life in Alaska alternated between Alaska's oil fields and college, studying business and history until, without attaining a degree, he opened Metcalfe Real Estate Company in 1976, which he operates to this day. His hobbies include skiing, disco dancing, litigating in defense of liberty and exposing political corruption.

[edit] Political career

Metcalfe was twice elected to the Alaska House of Representatives as a Republican. He formed the Republican Moderate Party of Alaska in 1986, to oppose the religious right who he felt had invaded and taken over the Republican Party. Shortly after Metcalfe formed the RMP, the leaders of the Republican Party sued him for forming a group using the term “Republican” without their permission. Metcalfe won in Superior Court and the decision was final because the Republican Party did not appeal.

The Superior Court declared Metcalfe to be a “Public Litigant,” “litigating in the public interest in defense of free speech for all.” Consequently, under Alaska’s rules of court governing how public interest litigants are treated, the new leaders of the Republican Party were ordered to pay all Metcalfe's attorney fees.

In 2006, Metcalfe ran as a Democrat for the sole U.S. House seat from Alaska, coming in second to Diane Benson by receiving 34% of the vote in the Democratic Primary.

In 2008 The Republican Moderate Party was dissolved and the Citizens For Ethical Government Inc., a non profit political watchdog group was created. Ray Metcalfe again declared he was running as a Democrat, this time for the US Senate seat held by Ted Stevens.