Facts: - state house: alaska - party: democratic - predecessor: mark -rrb- indeterminable -lrb- at-large -rrb- h. helmericks michael j. burns indeterminable -lrb- at-large - birth date: august 21 , 1937 - state senate: alaska - spouse: toni croft -lrb- nee williamson -rrb- - office: member chair of the university of alaska board of regents of the university of alaska board of regents - district: e 8th - term end: 2003 1971 2002 january 14 , 1979 january 10 , - name: leland chancy croft - birth place: jennings , louisiana - successor: cynthia at-large -rrb- henry brian d. rogers terry stimson indeterminable -lrb- - state: alaska alaska - occupation: attorney - alma mater: university of texas school of law - residence: anchorage , alaska - children: eric , kymberly , lee - term start: 1995 1969 2001 january 11 , 1971 january 27 , Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of chancy croft .
A:
leland chancy croft -lrb- born august 21 , 1937 -rrb- is a workers ' compensation attorney and democratic party politician from the u.s. state of alaska .elected to the alaska house of representatives in 1968 , he served a single term from 1969 to 1971 .he was then elected to the alaska senate , serving in that body from 1971 to 1979 , including serving as the president of the senate from 1975 to 1977 during the 9th alaska state legislature .facing reelection in his downtown anchorage-area district in 1978 , he instead ran for governor of alaska .winning the democratic nomination in the primary election over two challengers , he would become the first of 3 major party nominees in alaska gubernatorial elections to place third in the general election .the 1978 gubernatorial election was dominated by republican challenger walter hickel .hickel lost the primary to incumbent jay hammond by 98 votes , then launched a write-in campaign , which outpolled croft in the general election .croft largely retired from electoral politics after this campaign , but continues to practice law and remains prominent in legal and political circles in alaska .he served a term on the university of alaska board of regents from 1995 to 2003 , including as chair of the body from 2001 to 2002 .his older son , eric , has gone on to have his own political career .