Ben Stevens, the former Alaska state senator who became chief of staff to Alaska GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy, is leaving that job, Dunleavy’s office announced Wednesday.
Stevens will become the new vice president of external affairs and transportation at ConocoPhillips Alaska, Dunleavy’s office said in a prepared statement.
“I want to thank Ben for his hard work and service to the state of Alaska the past two years. His knowledge and political acumen have been an asset to the administration and I wish him the very best in his new role at ConocoPhillips Alaska,” Dunleavy was quoted as saying.
Randy Ruaro, who currently serves as deputy chief of staff to Dunleavy, will fill Stevens’ job until a permanent replacement is named.
RELATED: Ben Stevens once left the Alaska Senate in disgrace. Now he’s Gov. Dunleavy’s top deputy.
Dunleavy appointed Stevens chief of staff in the summer of 2019, as the governor faced a recall campaign with accumulating momentum and had just finished a bruising first legislative session.
Dunleavy originally hired Stevens as a policy advisor after his election in 2018. Stevens, the youngest of three sons of the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, had been away from politics for a decade at that point, after his office was raided by the FBI in a 2006 corruption investigation of the Alaska Legislature.
Ben Stevens, who was Senate president at the time, was never charged with a crime and has always maintained his innocence.
Nathaniel Herz is an Anchorage-based journalist. He's been a reporter in Alaska for a decade, and is currently reporting for Alaska Public Media. Find more of his work by subscribing to his newsletter, Northern Journal, at natherz.substack.com. Reach him at natherz@gmail.com.
