Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Ted Stevens's presence is visible everywhere in Alaska, from his name on Anchorage's international airport to the plaque at a senior citizens' center thanking him for his support.

These symbols, grand and modest, reflect the influence of Alaska's pre-eminent politician, who for four decades has helped his party dominate the state's politics. Since his July 29 indictment, however, Stevens, 84, has come to symbolize something else: the fading power of the scandal-plagued party.

``He has served Alaska for 40 years, but his time is over,'' said former Governor Walter Hickel, who launched Stevens's Senate career by appointing him to a vacancy in 1968.

Stevens's indictment last month on federal charges of failing to disclose more than $250,000 he received from Veco Corp., an Anchorage-based oil-services contractor, is the latest -- and the biggest -- crest in a wave of ethical controversies that has swamped Alaska's Republican politicians.

The scandals were spawned by the confluence of one-party dominance and soaring oil and gas prices in this energy-rich state, said Gerald McBeath, a political scientist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

``This has to do with big money, big corporations trying to influence public policy,'' McBeath said. ``There was a lot of money awash in Alaska. Veco was a very powerful organization in state politics. It had tentacles that reached out and touched everybody.''

Eight Alaskans

To date, eight Alaskans have been convicted or pleaded guilty in connection with a four-year federal corruption probe. They include three state legislators, the chief of staff to former Governor Frank Murkowski, and two former Veco executives. The most recent guilty plea was entered yesterday.

The state's congressman, Don Young, is also under investigation, though he hasn't been charged.

Separately, Alaska's junior senator, Lisa Murkowski, was the target of an ethics complaint by a watchdog group last year over a land deal. Even Governor Sarah Palin, elected in 2006 on a clean-up-the-mess platform, is facing a legislative probe over a personnel case.

The Republican turmoil has raised the hopes of Alaska's long-moribund Democrats that they can capture Stevens's and Young's seats and even make a play for the state in the presidential race.

`Embarrassing'

The scandals have also left many Alaskans chagrined. ``It is embarrassing,'' said David Dittman, an Anchorage pollster who is working for Stevens. ``It looks like the whole state is corrupt all the time. You don't want to be considered like Louisiana or Newark or Chicago.''

Veco, which is now owned by Denver-based CH2M Hill Cos. Ltd., is at the heart of the federal investigation. So are its onetime chief executive officer, Bill Allen, and vice president, Richard Smith, who pleaded guilty last year to giving more than $400,000 to Alaskan politicians in exchange for political support.

The Stevens indictment charges the senator with concealing more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations he got from Veco. He denies any wrongdoing and has asked for a trial that will be over before the Nov. 4 election.

``I am innocent of the case that's been brought against me,'' Stevens, the Senate's longest-serving Republican, said at an Aug. 4 rally in Anchorage. ``My mission for Alaska is not complete yet.''

`Bridge to Nowhere'

That mission has centered on bringing home millions of dollars in federal funds for projects ranging from housing and hospitals for indigenous peoples to the so-called ``Bridge to Nowhere,'' a proposal that in its initial stage would have cost $223 million to link the town of Ketchikan to an island with 50 full-time residents.

While the bridge came to symbolize the pork-barrel excesses of the Republicans' congressional dominance, Stevens's prowess at delivering federal dollars has convinced some he should stay on.

``He has that clout to make things happen,'' said Margy Johnson, the former mayor of Cordova. ``The senator is a giant, and we all stand on his shoulders.''

Johnson recalled Stevens's many visits to her town after it was devastated by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. She also recalled how he snared $2 million in federal money to clean up a toxic-waste site near the local hospital, as well as his letter of recommendation that helped her son get into Cornell University.

`Personal Touch'

``He has never lost this personal touch with Alaskans,'' Johnson said. ``For as long as he has been away, he still knows us on a first-name basis.''

These deep local roots lead some to predict that Stevens will survive politically, even though polls show him trailing the leading Democratic candidate, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, by as much as 20 percentage points. Stevens and Begich, 46, will first face Aug. 26 primaries that both are likely to win easily.

Dittman, Stevens's pollster, said the senator could win re- election even if convicted.

``People may say, `Well, it's not that serious; he just didn't fill out his forms correctly,''' Dittman said.

Hickel, now 88, says he appointed Stevens because he was young at the time and could help Alaska -- which became a state only in 1959 -- during a long Senate career.

``We were a young state, and I learned we needed seniority, and Ted was a survivor,'' said Hickel, who later served as secretary of the interior in the Nixon administration.

Now it's time for a change, he said. ``He's just doing what those big economic interests want done,'' Hickel said. ``I don't care if I appointed him. That was a long time ago.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Ken Fireman in Anchorage, Alaska at kfireman1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 12, 2008 10:26 EDT