Hollis French, II
Hollis S. French II (b. October 11, 1958) is a former Democratic member of the Alaska State Senate, representing District J from 2013 to 2015. He previously represented District M from 2003 to 2013.
French served as Senate Minority Leader in 2014.
After giving serious consideration to a 2014 bid for the governorship, Hollis announced in October 2013 that he would instead seek the open seat of lieutenant governor.[1][2] He won the ADL primary on August 19 and was set to face Republican nominee Dan Sullivan in the general election. He was forced to drop out of the race, however, after a September 1 vote of the Alaska Democratic Party central committee merged the Democratic ticket with that of independent candidate Bill Walker, pushing both French and Walker's former running mate for lieutenant governor off the ballot.[3]
Biography
French earned his B.A. in English from the University of Alaska in 1990 and his J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1995. His professional experience includes serving as Assistant District Attorney from 1996-2002 and a law clerk from 1995-1996.
Committee assignments
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, French served on the following committees:
| Alaska committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Resources |
| • Transportation |
| • Administrative Regulation Review |
| • Legislative Ethics |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, French served on these committees:
| Alaska committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Administrative Regulation Review, Chair |
| • Education |
| • Judiciary, Chair |
| • Legislative Budget and Audit |
| • Resources |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, French served on these committees:
| Alaska committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Community & Regional Affairs |
| • Judiciary, Chair |
| • Resources |
| • State Affairs |
Issues
Sponsored legislation
Here is a list of the bills sponsored by Senator Hollis French.
Elections
2014
French ran for Lieutenant Governor of Alaska in the 2014 elections. He initially filed a letter of intent to explore a gubernatorial run. French had said the purpose of forming an exploratory committee was to determine whether a campaign for governor would be financially viable.[2] Then, on Oct. 15, 2013, French announced on his Facebook page that he would pursue the office of lieutenant governor instead.[4]
French won the ADL primary on August 19, 2014, but was forced off the Democratic ticket by extenuating circumstances prior to the general election. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
ADL primary - August 19, 2014
| Lieutenant Governor of Alaska Democratic-Libertarian-Independence Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Hollis French (Democratic) |
62.1% | 40,271 | ||
| Robert "Bob" Williams (Democratic) | 25.2% | 16,358 | ||
| Andrew C. Lee (Libertarian) |
12.7% | 8,238 | ||
| Total Votes | 64,867 | |||
| Election results via Alaska Division of Elections. | ||||
2012
- See also: Alaska State Senate elections, 2012
French won re-election in the 2012 election for Alaska State Senate District 10 (J). He ran unopposed in the August 28, 2012 Democratic primary and defeated Bob Bell (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[5][6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Hollis French, II Incumbent |
50.2% | 7,605 | |
| Republican | Bob Bell | 49.8% | 7,546 | |
| Total Votes | 15,151 | |||
Following the implementation of Alaska's 2011 redistricting plan, French announced that he would he would start campaigning in his new district early to overcome a lack of name recognition. Noting that his new district "is a little more conservative" than his current one, he said he wanted to "start introducing [himself] to the people in my new district as soon as I can."[8]
2010
French ran for Governor of Alaska, losing to Ethan A. Berkowitz in the August 24 primary by a margin of 46.64% to 38.88%.
2008
- See also: Alaska State Senate elections, 2008
In 2008, French was re-elected to the Alaska State Senate, District M without any opposition. French finished with 9,503 votes (90.71%).[9] He raised $37,117 for his campaign fund.[10]
| Alaska State Senate, District M (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Hollis French (D)
|
9,503 | 90.71% | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Alaska scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2014
In 2014, the 28th Alaska State Legislature was in session from January 21 to April 20.
- Legislators are scored by the Alaska Business Report Card on "how supportive they are of Alaska’s private business sector."[11]
- National Federation of Independent Business: 2013-2014 Voting record
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2013, the Alaska State Legislature was in session from January 15 to April 14. Ballotpedia staff did not find any state legislative scorecards published for this state in 2013. If you are aware of one, please contact editor@ballotpedia.org to let us know. |
2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2012, the 27th Alaska State Legislature was in session from January 17 to April 15. It was in special session from April 15 to April 30.
|
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
French and his wife, Peggy, have one child. They currently reside in Anchorage, Alaska.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Hollis + French + Alaska + Senate"
See also
- Alaska State Legislature
- Alaska State Senate
- Alaska Senate Committees
- Alaska State Senate District J
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006 2004 2002 2000
- Hollis French official State Senate campaign site
Footnotes
- ↑ The Anchorage Daily News, "French to run for Lieutenant Governor," October 16, 2013
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Anchorage Daily News, "Anchorage Democrat French considering run for governor," August 14, 2013
- ↑ Alaska Dispatch News, "Walker, Mallott to join forces in governor's race," September 1, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedltgov - ↑ Alaska Division of Elections, "2012 Primary Candidate List," accessed March 12, 2014
- ↑ Alaska Division of Elections, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed March 12, 2014
- ↑ Alaska Election Division, "Official 2012 General election results," accessed November 16, 2012
- ↑ Anchorage Daily News, "Redistricting pushes French to start campaigning a year early," June 23, 2011
- ↑ Alaska Division of Elections, "Official 2008 General election results," accessed March 12, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Campaign funds," accessed March 12, 2014
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Alaska Business Report Card, "About ABRC," accessed September 11, 2014 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "abrc" defined multiple times with different content
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Alaska State Senate District J 2013–2015 |
Succeeded by Johnny Ellis (D) |
| Preceded by - |
Alaska State Senate District M 2003–2013 |
Succeeded by Anna Fairclough (R) |
 |
State of Alaska Juneau (capital) |
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