Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin | |
|---|---|
 Governor Sarah Palin | |
| 11th Governor of Alaska | |
| Assumed office December 4 2006 | |
| Lieutenant | Sean Parnell |
| Preceded by | Frank Murkowski |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 11, 1964 Sandpoint, Idaho |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Todd Palin |
| Profession | Journalist |
Sarah Heath Palin (née Sarah Louise Heath, born February 11 1964 in Sandpoint, Idaho) is the current Governor of Alaska. She is the youngest governor in Alaskan history (42 years old upon taking office), as well as the first woman to hold the office in the state. In addition to being Alaska's first female governor, and its youngest, Palin is also the first who was born after Alaska achieved statehood. She is also the first Alaska governor not to be inaugurated in Juneau, instead choosing to hold her inauguration ceremony in Fairbanks. She took office on December 4, 2006. Her Lieutenant Governor is Sean Parnell. Palin is the former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. As governor, she has maintained extremely high approval ratings throughout her tenure.
Personal
Palin was the point guard for the Wasilla High School Warriors when they won the state small school basketball championship in 1982.[1] In 1984, Palin competed in the Miss Alaska contest after being chosen Miss Wasilla that year.[2] In the Wasilla contest, she played the flute and also won the title of Miss Congeniality.
Details of Palin's personal life have contributed to her political image. She eats moose burgers and rides snowmobiles.[3] She admits that she used marijuana when it was legal in the state, but says she didn't like it.[4]
Palin holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho. She briefly worked in the media and utility industry.
Palin was named one of Alaska's "Top 40 Under 40," Alaska's Public Works "Person of the Year," and was recently inducted into the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society at Alaska Pacific University. She is also a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.
Palin's husband, Todd, works on the North Slope and is a commercial fisherman. On September 11, 2007, Palin's son Track joined the Army. Age 18 at the time, he is the eldest of her five children.[5] She also has three daughters, Bristol, 17, Willow, 13, and Piper, 7.[6] On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome.[7] The Palin family lives in Wasilla, about 40 miles north of Anchorage.[5]
Political experience
Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council and became a two-term mayor and manager of Wasilla, one of Alaska's fastest-growing communities. She was also elected President of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.
In 2002, Palin made a failed bid to become the state's lieutenant governor, coming in second place behind Loren Leman in a four-way race. After Frank Murkowski became governor, resigning from his long-time U.S. Senate seat, Palin was considered by some to be a candidate for that job; however, Murkowski appointed his daughter, then-State Representative Lisa Murkowski.
Governor Frank Murkowski appointed Palin to serve as ethics commissioner on the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission which she served on during 2003–2004, but later resigned, in protest over what she perceived to be the "lack of ethics" of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders. This included the state party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, a fellow commissioner, who was accused of doing work for the party on public time and providing a sensitive email to a lobbyist.[8] She filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former state Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who was eventually found not guilty.
She also served an elected term on the Valley Hospital board.
Governorship
In 2006, Palin won the Republican primary for Governor, defeating then-Gov. Frank Murkowski; she went on to win the general election in November 2006, defeating former Governor Tony Knowles. Palin has said that education, public safety, and transportation will be three focuses of her administration.[4]
She also supports holding occasional legislative sessions outside the state capital and municipal revenue sharing to help local governments.[citation needed]
High Approval Ratings
In July 2007, Palin was heralded in the media as being the most popular governor in the United States, with an approval rating often in the 90s.[9] An August 2007, poll had her approval rating at 84 percent, with five percent disapproving.[10]
A May 2008, poll showed her continuing to maintain her approval ratings in the mid 80s, the highest of any elected official in American politics.[citation needed]
Energy policies
Shortly after taking office, Palin rescinded the appointment of former chief of staff Jim Clark to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, reversing an appointment made in the closing days or hours of the prior Administration. [11] He has since pleaded guilty to conspiracy. [12]
In April 2007, Palin announced plans to create a new sub-cabinet to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska. [13]
Recently, she joined efforts to promote an "all-Alaska" natural gas pipeline, which would have been built by a political subdivision of the State. Palin describes an all-Alaska pipeline as the only proposal which brings the maximum benefit to the people. More recently she stated she is not opposed to running the pipeline through Canada, to the Lower 48, if doing so represents the best deal for Alaska.
In March 2007, Palin presented the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) as the new legal vehicle for building a natural gas pipeline from the state's North Slope.[14] Only one legislator, Representative Ralph Samuels, voted against the measure,[15] and in June Palin signed it into law.[16][17]
On January 5, 2008, Palin announced that a Canadian Company, Transcanada Corp, was the sole AGIA compliant applicant. Despite the fact Transcanada's applications suggests that the U.S. Government can act as a "backstop" in the event gas producers don't commit to shipping gas, Alaska still chose to announce the Transcanada Corp proposal as AGIA compliant.[18] [19] Palin steadfastly refuses to talk to the large producers, instead taking the strategy of using Transcanada as a third party negotiator.[20]
Polar Bear Controversy
Palin's administration is currently suing the US Department of the Interior over the recent listing of the Alaskan polar bear as a "threatened" species, due to the state of the bears' natural habitat, the arctic ice shelf.[citation needed] Palin points out that the population of polar bears has increased over the last 30 years, and that Alaska already has protections for the polar bear under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.[citation needed] She also says that the new regulation could potentially stifle the development of Alaska's vast oil and gas resources, which is a priority in her administration.[citation needed]
Gay rights and abortion
Palin is strongly pro-life and belongs to Feminists for Life.[4] She opposes same-sex marriage, but has gay friends and has otherwise been receptive to gay and lesbian concerns about discrimination.[21] While the previous administration did not implement same-sex benefits, Palin followed an Alaska Supreme Court order and signed them into law. [22]
She supported a democratic advisory vote from the public on whether there should be a constitutional amendment on the matter.[23] Alaska was one of the first states to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage, in 1998, along with Hawaii.[24]
Palin's first veto was used on legislation that would have barred the state from granting benefits to gay state employees and their partners. In effect, her veto granted State benefits to same-sex couples. The veto occurred after Palin consulted with her attorney general on the constitutionality of the legislation.[25]
Matanuska Maid Dairy controversy
Palin received widespread criticism for her handling of Matanuska Maid Dairy, a state owned business. When the State Dairy Board recommended closing the unprofitable business, Palin fired the board and appointed long-time Mat-Su Borough associates to run the board, including influential real estate businesswoman Kristan Cole.[26] The new board quickly approved raising the price of milk offered by the dairy in a vain attempt to control fiscal losses, despite the fact that milk from Washington was already offered in Alaska stores for much less than Mat Maid milk.[27] In the end the dairy was forced to close and the state tried to sell the assets to pay off its debts, but no bids were received.[28][29]
Budget
In the first days of her administration, Palin tried to follow through on a campaign promise to sell the Westwind II jet purchased by the past administration, on state credit. Since the election the state has put up the jet on eBay three times. In August 2007, the jet was sold.[30]
Shortly after becoming governor, Palin canceled an 11-mile gravel road outside of Juneau to a mine, reversing a decision made in the closing days or hours of the Murkowski Administration. [31]
In June 2007, Palin signed into law the largest operating budget in the state's history, $6.6 billion.[32] At the same time, she used her veto power to make the second largest cuts of the construction budget in the state history. The $237 million in cuts represented over 300 local projects and reduced the construction budget to nearly $1.6 billion.[33]
Political future
Palin has been mentioned as a viable candidate for the Vice-Presidency for GOP candidate Senator John McCain in the 2008 election. [34]
"I can't imagine anyone that I can think of right now who would be more appealing as a vice presidential candidate," Longtime White House correspondent and Baltimore radio commentator Lester Kinsolving said.
"What helps her obviously is that she's a woman, she's attractive, she's a conservative, she has a strong record of integrity, she's a spending-cutter, she's not a tax-raiser, and those things obviously would help," Fred Barnes, a regular on Fox News and co-host of The Beltway Boys.
"She is enormously popular ... people are really talking about what a popular figure she is, how mediagenic she is, how she would transform people's idea of McCain overnight, because she is so much more youthful and so much more presentable and just takes the Republican Party in a whole new direction," Ron Elving, NPR's It's All Politics podcast, 12 June 2008
Electoral history
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Sarah Palin | 114,697 | 48.33 | -7.6 | |
| Democratic | Tony Knowles | 97,238 | 40.97 | +0.3 | |
| Independent | Andrew Halcro | 22,443 | 9.46 | n/a | |
| Independence | Don Wright | 1,285 | 0.54 | -0.4 | |
| Libertarian | Billy Toien | 682 | 0.29 | -0.2 | |
| Green | David Massie | 593 | 0.25 | -1.0 | |
| Write-ins | 384 | 0.16 | +0.1 | ||
| Majority | 17,459 | 7.36 | |||
| Turnout | 238,307 | 51.1 | |||
| Republican hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Sarah Palin | 51,443 | 50.59 | n/a | |
| Republican | John Binkley | 30,349 | 29.84 | n/a | |
| Republican | Frank Murkowski, Incumbent | 19,412 | 19.09 | n/a | |
| Republican | Merica Hlatcu | 211 | 0.21 | n/a | |
| Republican | Gerald Heikes | 280 | 0.28 | n/a | |
| Majority | 21,094 | 20.75 | n/a | ||
| Turnout | 101,695 | n/a | n/a | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Loren Leman | 21,076 | 29% | n/a | |
| Republican | Sarah Palin | 19,114 | 27% | n/a | |
| Republican | Robin Taylor | 16,053 | 22% | n/a | |
| Republican | Gail Phillips | 13,804 | 19% | n/a | |
| Republican | Paul Wieler | 1,777 | 2% | n/a | |
References
- ^ Boese, Chris (December 7 2006). ""Sarah Palin's inaugural speech sets an interesting tone"" (blog). Chris Boese's Weblog. serendipit-e.com. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Layne, Ken (December 6 2006). ""GILF Update: Gov. Sarah Palin As Miss Wasilla"" (blog). Wonkette. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Arnold, Elizabeth. "Alaska's Governor Is Tough, Young — and a Woman". NPR.org. National Public Radio. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
- ^ a b c Hopkins, Kyle (August 6, 2006). "Same-sex unions, drugs get little play". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Associated Press (September 13, 2007). "Alaska Gov.'s Son Enlists in Army". WTOPNews.com. WTOP-FM. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ ""About the Governor"". Biography. State of Alaska. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
- ^ Alaska Superstation
- ^ http://dwb.adn.com/front/story/5572779p-5504444c.html
- ^ Barnes, Fred (July 16, 2007). "The Most Popular Governor". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ McAllister, Bill (August 13 2007). "Stevens may have work cut out in reelection". KTUU News. KTUU-TV. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Palin Sacks Murkowski Crony Clark". Alaska Report. December 7 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Richard, Mauer (2008-03-05). "Murkowski staff chief pleads guilty". Anchorage Daily News. The McClatchy Company. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Kizzia, Tom (April 12 2007). "State aims to reduce emissions". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ ""Governor Palin Unveils the AGIA"". News & Announcements. State of Alaska. March 2 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ ""Palin to sign gas pipeline plan today"". News & Announcements. Alaska Legislature. June 6 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ ""Gov. Performs Ceremonial Signing of AGIA"". News & Announcements. State of Alaska. June 7 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ ""Bill History/Action for 25th Legislature: HB 177"". BASIS. Alaska State Legislature. June 7 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.andrewhalcro.com/jan_5_agia_-_what_do_you_know_that_we_dont_know_youre_lying
- ^ http://www.adn.com/money/industries/oil/pipeline/story/255462.html
- ^ http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=7578924
- ^ Same-sex unions, drugs get little play, Anchorage Daily News, 6 Aug 2006.
- ^ McAllister, Bill (December 20 2006). "Gay partners of state employees win benefits". KTUU News. KTUU-TV. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Demer, Lisa (December 21 2006). "Palin to comply on same-sex ruling". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Vestal, Christine (March 1 2007 (updated September 20 2007)). "Gay marriage decisions ripe in 2 courts". Stateline.org. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Alaska Gov. Vetoes Bill To Thwart Gay Partner Benefits". 365gay. December 29 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Komarnitsky, S. J. (July 4 2007). "State board votes to replace Mat Maid CEO". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Komarnitsky, S. J. (July 10 2007). "Creamery Board approves milk price increase for dairy farmers". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Komarnitsky, S. J. (August 30 2007). "State to put Mat Maid dairy up for sale". Anchorage Daily News.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "State gets no bids for Matanuska Maid". Anchorage Daily News. December 8 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ ""Governor Palin Will Sell Jet"". News & Announcements. State of Alaska. December 12 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.ktuu.com/global/story.asp?s=5818166&ClientType=Printable
- ^ Shinohara, Rosemary (July 16 2007). "No vetoes here". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/070807/hom_20070708005.shtml
- ^ McAllister, Bill (December 21 2007). "Top 10 stories of 2007: The rise of Sarah Palin". ktuu.com. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ ""State of Alaska Primary Election - August 27, 2002: Official Results"". Division of Elections. The Office of Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell. September 18, 2002. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
- Alaska Office of Governor Sarah Palin
- National Governors Association - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin biography
- University of Idaho alumni magazine - Sarah Palin - winter 2008 - p.14
- Follow the Money - Palin 2006 campaign contributions
- Follow the Money - Palin/Parnell 2006 campaign contributions
- On the Issues - Sarah Palin's issue positions and quotes
- Project Vote Smart - Governor Sarah H. Palin profile
- Palin for Governor
- Sarah Smile Anchorage Press, August 2006 cover story
- Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski ousted in a humiliating defeat to Sarah Palin Alaska Report, August 24 2006
- Official Portrait
