Chancy Croft

Leland Chancy Croft
Member of the University of Alaska Board of Regents
In office 1995–2003
Preceded by	Mark H. Helmericks
Succeeded by	Cynthia Henry
Chair of the University of Alaska Board of Regents
In office 2001–2002
Preceded by	Michael J. Burns
Succeeded by	Brian D. Rogers
Member of the Alaska Senate from the E district
In office January 11, 1971 – January 14, 1979
Preceded by	indeterminable (at-large)
Succeeded by	Terry Stimson
Member of the Alaska House of Representatives from the 8th district
In office January 27, 1969 – January 10, 1971
Preceded by	indeterminable (at-large)
Succeeded by	indeterminable (at-large)
Personal details
Born	August 21, 1937 Jennings, Louisiana
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Toni Croft (née Williamson)
Children	Eric, Kymberly, Lee
Residence	Anchorage, Alaska
Alma mater	University of Texas School of Law
Occupation	Attorney

Leland Chancy Croft (born August 21, 1937) is a Workers' Compensation attorney and Democratic Party politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. He is widely known by his middle name, which is also his mother's maiden name.

Croft was born in Jennings, Louisiana and graduated from high school in Odessa, Texas He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with baccalaureate degrees in government and sociology and a law degree.

Not long after arriving in Anchorage from Texas in 1962, Croft became a charter member of the Alaska Legal Services Corporation, serving as chairman of the Board of Governors from 1971 to 1978.

He was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1968, serving a single term. He was then elected to the Alaska Senate in 1970, serving from 1971 until 1979. He served as Senate President from 1975 to 1977.

Chancy Croft was the Democratic Party's nominee for Governor of Alaska in 1978. He would become the first of 3 major party nominees in state history to place third in the general election, as the 1978 campaign was dominated by the extremely close and controversial Republican primary between incumbent Jay Hammond and challenger Walter Hickel. Hickel lost by 98 votes and would launch a write-in campaign.

He was a member of the University of Alaska Board of Regents from 1995 until 2003; he was chairman from 2001 to 2002. He has worked to provide educational service to rural Alaska communities while guiding the university toward increased distance delivery education. He is responsible for establishing the Regents Scholarship benefiting UA junior, senior and graduate students. Croft holds an Honorary Doctor of Law from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Croft has appeared before the Alaska Supreme Court in over sixty cases, winning two-thirds of those cases. In at least twelve cases, he has lost to both the Board and Superior Court only to succeed in the Supreme Court. He practices with The Croft Law Office.

In 1986, his article, Something More Important Than Money: Vocational Rehabilitation in Workers Compensation Cases, was published in the Alaska Law Review. The article lauded the Alaska statute providing injured workers with training for new careers. The legislature promptly repealed the statute. More recently he unsuccessfully worked with the legislature on potential changes to the Alaska Workers Compensation Act. In 2005, he sued the governor of Alaska, challenging the constitutionality of legislation which created a new executive court to hear appeals from decisions of the Alaska Workers Compensation Board.

Family

He is married to Toni Williamson Croft, a graduate of Stanford University. His children are Eric, Kymberly and Lee. Eric followed him as both a legislator and gubernatorial candidate, and he also ran for Mayor of Anchorage. Eric works with his father at The Croft Law Office.

References

• "Alaskan State Legislature - list of delegates and officers" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-05-28.

External links

• Alaska's Digital Archives - Photo of Chancy Croft, taken September 7, 1976