David Warren "Dave" Cuddy (born September 16, 1952) is a businessman and Republican Party politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. David Warren Cuddy was born in Anchorage, Alaska to Daniel Hon "Dan" and Betty Jane "Betti" (née Puckett) Cuddy. He was named after his uncle (and Dan Cuddy's only sibling), who died in World War II in 1944. Growing up in Anchorage (where he has lived for most of his life), he graduated from West Anchorage High School in 1970, and went on to earn a B.A. in economics from Duke University in 1974. Cuddy joined the business operated by his family, First National Bank of Anchorage (now called First National Bank Alaska) in 1972, working his way up from teller to loan officer, and eventually vice-president at the time he left the bank. Cuddy was elected to a single term in the Alaska House of Representatives in 1980. A combination of redistricting and pressure from Dick Randolph to defect to the Libertarian Party played heavily in his decision not to run for re-election. In 1996 and 2008, Cuddy unsuccessfully challenged Ted Stevens in the Alaska Republican U.S. Senate primary. Cuddy currently lists his occupation as an independent film producer. In 2001, he worked for a California-based entertainment firm as a business consultant to independent filmmakers, and left them in 2003. While acting as executive producer on the film Light in the Forest, he met Austin-based screenwriter Bonnie Orr, and in 2007 he began construction of a film studio in Austin, Texas.