[1] Stephen Alan McAlpine was born in Yakima, Washington on May 23, 1949, the fourth child of Robert E. and Myrtle B.

He attended school in Yakima, as well as two years at Maryknoll Seminary in Mountain View, California.

Following the end of his tenure in elected office (see below), McAlpine moved to Anchorage, Alaska and resumed the practice of law, which he continues to the present day.

Sheffield, plagued by various scandals in his administration during his term as governor, lost renomination in the 1986 primary election to Steve Cowper, a Fairbanks lawyer and former state representative.

McAlpine won renomination as lieutenant governor, however, and in the general election, was reelected alongside Cowper.