 Alaska senator Ernest Gruening remained a staunch backer of the project from its inception to its cancellation , and made it a major personal political priority . Gruening led a coalition of Alaska lawmakers that included most of the Alaska Legislature . In the 1962 Alaska state elections , every candidate elected to the state legislature was a supporter of the project . In the years that followed , the Alaska Legislature voted several times to allocate state funding for the project . Politicians at the city level also got into the action , as the city of Anchorage and the Fairbanks Public Utilities Board each voted to contribute $ 10 @,@ 000 to a pro @-@ Rampart organization . Among the group 's members was Ted Stevens , who was appointed in 1968 as one of Alaska 's representatives to the U.S. Senate . 
