Editing Fran Ulmer (section)

==Alaska politics==
[[File:Fran Ulmer 2002.jpg|thumb|left|Ulmer during an interview in 2002]]
Ulmer first began working in Alaska in 1973 as a lawyer at the Legislative Affairs Agency in [[Juneau, Alaska]]. Ulmer worked as a legislative assistant for [[Jay Hammond]], the [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] governor of Alaska from 1975 through 1977. He appointed her Director of Policy Development and Planning that year, a role she held until 1981.<ref>{{cite news|last=Volz|first=Matt|title=Jay Hammond dies at 83|newspaper=[[Juneau Empire]]|location=[[Juneau, Alaska]]|date=August 3, 2005|access-date=July 30, 2017|url=http://juneauempire.com/stories/080305/loc_20050803006.shtml#.WX6xJYjyu00}}</ref> She served on Juneau's Planning and Zoning Commission from 1981 to 1983.

She served as [[List of mayors of Juneau, Alaska|mayor]] of [[Juneau]] from 1983 to 1985 and was in the [[Alaska House of Representatives]] from 1987 to 1994 as a [[United States Democratic Party|Democrat]], where she sponsored and won approval of legislation concerning criminal justice, education, public administration, health, and transportation. From 1993 to 1994 she served as the house minority leader.

In 1994 she won the open primary for the nomination for [[lieutenant governor]]. She was elected to two four-year terms on the Democratic ticket, along with Governor [[Tony Knowles (politician)|Tony Knowles]].<ref name=UAA>[https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/honors-college/ours/research-opportunities/fran-ulmer.cshtml Fran Ulmer Transformative Research Award], ''[[University of Alaska, Anchorage]]''. Retrieved July 7, 2018.</ref> In that post, she became a nationally recognized leader in election reform and making government more efficient and accessible through telecommunications. During her tenure, Alaska became the first state to replace the punched card system with a statewide optical scanning ballot counting system.

===Alaska gubernatorial election, 2002===
{{Main|Alaska gubernatorial election, 2002}}
In 2002, she won the nomination of the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] party for the office of governor. She lost [[Alaska gubernatorial election, 2002|the election]] to the Republican candidate, U.S. Senator [[Frank Murkowski]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Broder|first=John M.|title=The 2002 Elections: Governors; Bright Spots, Amid Dim Ones, for Democrats|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|location=[[New York, New York]]|date=November 7, 2002|access-date=July 30, 2017|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/07/us/the-2002-elections-governors-bright-spots-amid-dim-ones-for-democrats.html}}</ref>