Wendell Palmer Kay Jr. (August 17, 1913 – June 29, 1986)[1] was an American lawyer and Democratic politician active in the territory and state of Alaska.

Senator Bob Bartlett, a fellow Democrat, died in office in 1968, then-Republican Governor Walter Joseph Hickel appointed Ted Stevens, former U.S. Attorney and a high-level official in the United States Department of Interior during President Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration, to fill the vacancy.

Wendell Kay practiced law for many years in Anchorage, Alaska, and he was widely considered within the legal community there as the foremost criminal defense lawyer of his day.

Known as the "Silver Fox," Mr. Kay had the rare ability to succeed at a technique known as exploratory cross-examination, where the questioner does not know the answer that the witness will give.

In one trial for assault, Mr. Kay was able to use this method to establish a devastating fact of which neither side had been previously aware: that the complaining witness was on anti-psychotic medication for mental illness.