Joe Josephson, former AK senator and municipal charter commission member

Send us Fan MailIn 1970 Alaska repealed its abortion law making abortion legal here three years prior to Roe vs Wade. One Alaskan senator who voted to legalize abortion – three separate times as he will point out -- was Joe Josephson. That same year he lost the democratic primary for the senate race to replace Bob Bartlett who had died in office; Republican Ted Stevens went on to win that election.  Josephson started his career in politics in the late 1950s as a young staffer for territorial delegate Bob Bartlett (later US Senator); he was vice-mayor of the city of Anchorage under Elmer Rasmuson, served on the municipal charter commission, the Anchorage Assembly, and served  as an AK senator in the mid-1980s acting as unofficial defense counsel for Gov. Bill Sheffield during his impeachment trial. Joe Josephson has five children, one of whom is AK House Representative Andy Josephson. Mr. Josephson who is almost 89-years-old still works full-time as an attorney and this interview was recorded at his law office.