My best shot at winning higher office in Alaska came in 1988, in the form of a letter from the Alaska Bar Association advising me that an ethics complaint had been filed against me by my fellow lawyer, Jeff Feldman. Jeff thought I had violated the Code of Professional Conduct by leading a campaign against the retention of Jay Rabinowitz on the Alaska Supreme Court. I ignored the letter and hoped for the best.
If these people succeeded in disbarring me I had a ticket to the Governor’s mansion in the 1990 election. I didn’t really want to be Governor. Too much work, for one thing. I wanted to be a United States Senator, where your only responsibility was to vote and to spout off. That, I could do. But if I was elected Governor I’d be in a position to challenge Ted Stevens for the Republican nomination for Senate in 1996. This was my ambition, and I needed a break to make it possible. Disbarment for criticizing another lawyer was a way for me to endear myself with voters across the state. I would be a martyr, and my reward would be a seat in the U. S. Senate.
Alas, Jeff’s complaint went nowhere, and I never got my shot at Stevens. It just wasn’t meant to be.
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