Senator James Kaufman

Senator James Kaufman moved to the Anchorage Hillside after accepting a position as a resource projects Quality Manager and Team Lead in Alaska’s oil and gas industry. Throughout his 35+ career, James worked with project management teams improve the quality and efficiency of their projects to deliver greater value for the every dollar spent on their capital improvements.

When he retired in 2017, he became more active in South Anchorage Community Councils, the Anchorage HALO organization, and served as the Hillside Lead for the Coalition of Community Patrols. He helped organize events to address the ongoing threat of wildfires on the Hillside and other realities of living in Alaska: Earthquakes, record breaking snow storms, volcanic eruptions, and the pandemic. In each of these roles his focus was how to improve the safety, security and resiliency of our community.

Seeing the need in our state government for more common sense, James served two years in Alaska’s House of Representatives before joining the Senate. His career in quality management on large and complex oil and gas projects taught him a range of skills that directly apply to his role in the Senate. These skills include the ability to analyze complex and expensive organizations and projects, determine the root causes of failure, find efficient solutions, identify opportunities for improvement, and successfully manage the necessary changes to avoid unintended consequences.

Senator Kaufman hopes to use his range of skills to guide the State of Alaska towards a more fiscally-sound and sustainable future. First and foremost, Senator Kaufman is excited to work for his neighbors in Abbott Loop, Independence Park, Huffman/O’Malley, the Lower Hillside, and Prospect Heights.