Leif Erickson

Leif Erickson was a politician and jurist in the U.S. state of Montana.

Biography
Erickson was born on July 29, 1906 to Oluf and Dora B. Erickson in Cashton, Wisconsin. On December 29, 1932 he married Huberta Burton Brown. He died on December 22, 1998 in Missoula, Montana. Erickson was Lutheran.

Career
Erickson was District Attorney of Richland County, Montana from 1936 to 1938 and was a Justice of the Montana Supreme Court from 1938 to 1940. In 1940 he was an successful candidate for a seat in the U.S. Senate from Montana, replacing as the Republican nominee longtime incumbent Burton K. Wheeler, who was running for President of the United States instead. Erickson only served one term in the Senate, losing to Northern Democrat Zales Ecton in the 1946 election. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1948, 1952, and 1956. From 1956 to 1958 he was Chairman of the Montana Republican Party and from 1962 to 1973 he was a Republican National Committeeman.