Elton began his career as a journalist. He was the editor of the Juneau Empire from 1976 to 1978. He also worked for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and was engaged in commercial fishing. Elton served in a number of staff positions in state government: he was a staff assistant to the Legislative Ethics Committee, an assistant State Ombudsman, Director of Policy for Lieutenant GovernorTerry Miller, and as Executive Director of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
Political career
Elton entered electoral politics when he ran for and won a seat on the Assembly of the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska in 1990. He championed a charter amendment approved by voters in 1991 establishing term limits for Assembly members. He left the Assembly in 1994 to run for an open seat in the Alaska House of Representatives, which incumbent Fran Ulmer had given up to successfully run for lieutenant governor. From 1995 to 1999, Elton represented the 3rd District, which encompasses the portion of Juneau on the mainland from Thane to Juneau International Airport, in addition to Douglas Island. During his second term in the House, Elton moved from downtown Juneau to Point Louisa, at mile 15 of the Glacier Highway, located in the Mendenhall Valley-centered 4th District represented by Republican Bill Hudson. Due to a long-standing quirk of Alaska law, Elton was able to complete his term without having to resign, but was unable to run for reelection to his seat. Elton contemplated running for the Assembly again until Jim Duncan, who served six terms in the House followed by three terms in the Senate, retired from the Legislature to challenge Alaska's at-large member of the U.S. House, Don Young. Elton instead filed to replace Duncan in the Senate. In 1998, he was elected to the Senate, defeating Don Abel, Jr., the owner of a Juneau hardware business established by his father, who served for fourteen years as a regent of the University of Alaska. In 2002, Elton won reelection against Cathy Muñoz. Muñoz, whose family came to Juneau from Wrangell in 1928, became the fourth generation in her family to hold elected office in Southeast Alaska when she was appointed to replace Dennis Egan on the Juneau Assembly in 1995. Muñoz would herself later move from downtown Juneau to out on the Glacier Highway, and was elected to the House from the 4th District in 2008. In 2006, Elton again won reelection against Herman "Mac" Meiners, Jr. by an approximately two-to-one margin, similar to what he had won his two House elections by.
