John Bruce Coghill Jr. (born August 15, 1950) is an American politician who served as a member of the Alaska Senate, representing North Pole and other communities in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. First elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1998, he was appointed to his Senate seat in 2009 and was the Senate's majority leader from 2013 to 2016. During his Senate tenure, he served as Rules Committee chairman. In 2020, he lost re-election by 14 votes to fellow Republican Robert Myers Jr., who defeated him in the state's Republican primary election.
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Early life
John Bruce Coghill Jr. was born on August 15, 1950, in Fairbanks, Territory of Alaska, to Frances Mae "Frannie" (née Gilbert) and John Bruce "Jack" Coghill, residents of nearby Nenana. His paternal grandfather, William Alexander Coghill (1884–1947), was an English-born Scotsman who came to Alaska by way of Canada, settling first in Fairbanks and then in Nenana in the early years of both communities. He was raised in Nenana before moving to Fairbanks to attend the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He was drafted into the United States Air Force during his first semester in attendance. He served for five years in the Air Force during the Vietnam War era, reaching the rank of staff sergeant.
Career
Coghill served as the majority leader for the Alaska State House of Representatives from 2003 to 2006. He was also on the Alaska Information Infrastructure Task Force during 2005 and 2006. He was additionally involved in the Local Government Advisory Commission during 2005 and 2006. Coghill was the Minority Leader in 2012 and the Majority Leader from 2013 through 2016. Over the years, including in 2017–2018, Coghill was either Chair or a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.