Steve Cowper

Steve Cowper
Steve Cowper taking questions at a press conference in March 1990.
6th Governor of Alaska
In office December 1, 1986 – December 3, 1990
Lieutenant	Stephen McAlpine
Preceded by	Bill Sheffield
Succeeded by	Walter J. Hickel
Member of the Alaska House of Representatives from the 20th district
In office January 20, 1975 – January 14, 1979
Personal details
Born	Stephen Cambreleng Cowper (1938-08-21) August 21, 1938 (age 78) Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	1) ? (divorced) 2) Michael Margaret Stewart (m. ca. 1985–1991; divorced; December 28, 1952 – October 22, 2015)†
Children	Katherine (b. ca. 1962) Grace (b. ca. 1964) Wade (b. 1986)
Alma mater	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill B.A., L.L.B.
Religion	Episcopalian
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Stephen Cambreleng "Steve" Cowper (born August 21, 1938) is an American Democratic politician who was the sixth Governor of Alaska from 1986-90. He was governor during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Cowper was born in 1938 to Petersburg, Virginia to Stephanie (née Smith) and Marion Cowper. He was raised in Kinston, North Carolina. He received bachelor's and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and after serving in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and Army Reserve, he worked as a maritime lawyer in Norfolk, Virginia for three years. Cowper moved to Fairbanks, Alaska in 1968 and served as assistant district attorney for rural Alaska and Fairbanks.

In 1970, Cowper went to Vietnam and worked as a freelance correspondent throughout Asia. Upon returning to Alaska, he wrote a political column for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, taught a college course on Alaska lands, was a partner in an air taxi and cargo business, and worked as a diver for a University of Alaska marine research team.

In 1974, Cowper was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives, where he served two terms. During his time in the House, he served as chairman of the Finance Committee (1977–78), chairman of the Steering Council on Alaska Lands (1978), a member of the Subsistence Committee (1977–78), and a member of the Alaska Advisory Committee for the Law of the Sea Conference (1978). In 1982, Cowper ran for governor, but narrowly lost the Democratic nomination to Bill Sheffield, who went on to win the general election.