Sam Kito III

{{Short description|American politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Sam Kito III

| image =

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| office = Member of the Alaska House of Representatives
from the 33rd District

| term_start = January 20, 2015

| term_end = January 15, 2019

| predecessor = redistricted

| successor = Sara Hannan

| office1 = Member of the Alaska House of Representatives
from the 32nd District

| term_start1 = February 26, 2014

| term_end1 = January 20, 2015

| predecessor1 = Beth Kerttula

| successor1 = redistricted

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1964}}

| birth_place = Anchorage, Alaska

| death_date =

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| nationality =

| party = Democratic

| spouse =

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| residence = Juneau, Alaska

| alma_mater = University of Alaska (B.S., 1988)

| occupation = Civil engineer, politician

| profession =

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}}

Sam Kito III (born 1964) is an American politician from Alaska. A Democrat, he served in the Alaska House of Representatives as a representative from Juneau from 2014 to 2019.

A lobbyist and civil engineer by trade, Kito was appointed to serve out the term of Beth Kerttula in House District 32 after she resigned in early 2014. Governor Sean Parnell selected him in February from among three nominees forwarded by the Tongass Democrats, passing over Juneau Assemblyman Jesse Kiehl and Juneau School District budget committeewoman Catherine Reardon.{{cite news|url=http://juneauempire.com/local/2014-02-04/tongass-democrats-deliver-names-open-house-seat|agency=Juneau Empire|first=Jennifer|last=Canfield|date=February 4, 2014|accessdate=February 8, 2015|title=Tongass Democrats deliver names for open House seat}}{{cite news|url=http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/sam-kito-iii-nominated-to-fill-rep-kertullas-house-seat/24605136|agency=KTUU|title=Sam Kito III Nominated to fill Rep. Kerttula's House Seat|date=February 21, 2014|accessdate=February 8, 2015|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209120553/http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/sam-kito-iii-nominated-to-fill-rep-kertullas-house-seat/24605136|archivedate=February 9, 2015}} He was sworn in on February 26, 2014 and joined the Democratic-led minority caucus.{{cite news|title=Parnell picks Kito to replace Beth Kerttula in Alaska Legislature|date=February 21, 2014|accessdate=February 8, 2015|first=Pat|last=Forgey|agency=Alaska Dispatch|url=http://www.adn.com/article/20140221/parnell-picks-kito-replace-beth-kerttula-alaska-legislature}}{{cite news|url=http://www.ktoo.org/2014/02/26/new-rep-sam-kito-iii-takes-oath-of-office/|agency=KTOO|first=Matt|last=Miller|title=New Rep. Sam Kito III takes oath of office|date=February 26, 2014|accessdate=February 8, 2015}}

After being appointed, Kito ran for election to a full term in House District 33 (due to redistricting) and won in a landslide over Republican Peter Dukowitz.{{cite news|url=http://juneauempire.com/local/2014-11-05/big-win-incumbents-election-day|agency=Juneau Empire|title=Big win for incumbents on Election Day|date=November 5, 2014|accessdate=February 8, 2015|first=Katie|last=Moritz}} When the legislature eliminated per diem payments for legislators who lived within 50 miles of the state capital of Juneau, he concluded that on a small legislative salary it would be very difficult to pay for his daughter's college tuition and did not run for re-election. His compensation would have been cut from $82,488 to $50,400.[https://www.juneauempire.com/news/juneau-rep-sam-kito-iii-will-not-run-for-re-election-in-2018/ Juneau Rep Sam Kito III will not run for reelection in 2018], Juneau Empire, James Brooks, March 20, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2019.