State of a petition in American city (6)
I believe the answer is:
alaska
'state' is the definition.
(I know that Alaska is a state)
'a petition in american city' is the wordplay.
'petition' becomes 'ask' (I've seen this in another clue).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'american city' becomes 'la' (short for Los Angeles).
'ask' inserted within 'la' is 'laska'.
'a'+'laska'='ALASKA'
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for alaska that I've seen before include "Sarah Palin's home state" , "Northernmost US state" , "Most northerly US state" , "Food item baked" , "Anchorage is the capital" .)