Biography:

Tony Knowles is a two-term former governor of Alaska and mayor of its largest city, Anchorage, who is trying to be the first Democrat elected to Congress from the state in 24 years.

Knowles was born Jan. 1, 1943, in Tulsa, Okla. He earned his high school degree from Millbrook School in Millbrook, N.Y.He attended Yale University, then volunteered for the U.S. Army in 1962, joining the 82nd Airborne Division and serving in Vietnam.

He returned to Yale afterward and earned a degree in economics in 1968.After graduation, he moved to Alaska and worked briefly on oil drilling rigs on the North Slope and in Cook Inlet.

In 1969, he started the first of four restaurants he would own and sell, incuding the Downtown Deli.

Knowles was married Sept. 21, 1968, to the former Susan Morris in Blauvelt, N.Y. Susan Knowles was a member of the Alaska Public Utilities Commission, which regulates most utilities in Alaska, from 1975 to 1993. They have three children: Devon, Luke and Sara.

Past Campaigns:

Tony Knowles was elected to the Anchorage Assembly in 1975 and served one term. He was elected mayor in 1982 and served two terms, through 1987.

Knowles was the Democratic nominee for governor in 1990. He finished third behind former Gov. Walter Hickel, who had been a Republican but switched to run on the Alaskan Independence ticket, and Arlyss Sturgulewski, the Republican nominee.

Stressing quality of life issues, Knowles ran again in 1994 and defeated Republican Jim Campbell by 536 votes. Running in what had become a strongly Republican state, Knowles benefitted from the presence in the race of Lt. Gov. Jack Coghill, who ran on the Alaskan Independence ticket and won 13 percent of the vote total.

Four years later, Knowles won 51 percent of the vote against John Lindauer, who appeared on the Republican ticket but was disgraced by a campaign scandal, and state Sen. Robin Taylor, R-Wrangell, whom the Republican Party of Alaska backed as a write-in candidate.

Knowles' second term as governor ended in November 2002. He announced his campaign for U.S. Senate in July 2003. He faced token opposition in the Aug. 24 primary.

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