Les Gara represented House District 20 in the Alaska Legislature from 2003 to 2019, serving on the Finance, Health and Social Services, and Judiciary committees, among others. Les was born and raised in New York. When he was six, a robber broke into his father’s office while he was working late and killed him. Les lived in foster homes for twelve years until he graduated high school. He was a renowned advocate for foster youth and parents in the Alaska Legislature, and his work has been recognized with national awards including the 2018 Adoption Excellence Award and the 2017 Casey Excellence for Children Award. Rep. Gara graduated from Boston University in 1985. Three years later, after he earned his law degree from Harvard Law School, he and his wife, Kelly, moved to Fairbanks, where he worked as a law clerk for Alaska Supreme Court Justice Jay Rabinowitz. The following year they moved to Anchorage, where Les became an Assistant Attorney General for the Alaska Department of Law and worked on the civil prosecution of Exxon after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Les enjoys fishing, rafting, and fly-tying.