Former state Senate president Ben Stevens dies at 63

JUNEAU (AP) — Ben Stevens, a former Alaska Senate president and son of the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, has died. He was 63.

The state troopers said they responded to a report last Thursday evening of a hiker — later identified as Stevens — having a medical emergency on the Lost Lake Trail near Seward. The troopers’ statement said a medical service team reached the scene around 6:40 p.m. and that lifesaving measures were unsuccessful.

A Republican women’s group posted on Facebook that Stevens died of a heart attack after collapsing on the trail.

Stevens worked as vice president of external affairs and transportation at ConocoPhillips in Anchorage. He joined the company in early 2021 after working as chief of staff to Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

Stevens, a Republican, was appointed to the state Senate in 2001. He was Senate president in 2005 and 2006 but did not seek reelection after that.

His office was among at least six state legislative offices raided by federal agents in 2006 as part of a corruption probe. Stevens was never charged with a crime. He denied any wrongdoing.

Alaska state Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich said there were times that he and Stevens agreed on policy and times that they sparred. Stevens “was a bulldog, but when it came down to it, we always had the ability to work with one another to determine how best to move this great state forward,” Begich, an Anchorage Democrat, said in a statement.

Stevens is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and their children.

Stevens was the son of Alaska’s longtime late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, who died in a plane crash in August 2010.