Background

• Sarah Louise Heath Palin (born February 11, 1964) is the current Governor of Alaska *She was the2008 Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States. She was the first female Vice Presidential candidate representing the Republican Party and the second female Vice Presidential candidate representing a major political party.
• Palin was born in Idaho and raised in Alaska. In 1984, she was the runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant, receiving a scholarship that allowed her to attend the University of Idaho, where she received a degree in journalism. After working as a sports reporter at an Anchorage television station, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, City Council from 1992 to 1996, was elected mayor of Wasilla (population 5,470 in 2000) in 1996, and ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor in 2002.
• Palin was elected Governor of Alaska in 2006 on the theme of governmental reform, defeating incumbent governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary and former Democratic Alaskan governor Tony Knowles in the general election. She gained attention for publicizing ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders.
• Palin is married to a commercial fisherman who works for BP energy corporation at an oil field on Alaska's North Slope outside of the fishing season. The couple has 5 children, including an infant with Downs Syndrome born in April 2008.

Professional Positions

• Wasilla City Council, 1992-1996 - As city council member, Palin kept her campaign promises of eliminating government waste by reducing her own salary. She also lowered property taxes by 60%. (Source: Kaylene Johnson)
• Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, 2003-2004 - Palin was appointed as the Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) by Governor Murkowski in 2003. She spearheaded the investigation that ultimately led the state Republican Party Chairman and AOGCC Randy Ruedrich to resign from the commission. She personally searched his desk and computer files for evidence relating to the allegations. Palin resigned from the commission just 11 months after accepting the post when her ethic complaints against Ruedrich were ignored. She filed formal complaints against Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes. Both resigned and Ruedrich paid a $12,000 fine (Source: National Journal).
• In 2006, Palin was elected Governor of Alaska, running a campaign that emphasized clean government, education, public safety, and transportation. She is the first female governor of Alaska and the youngest to be elected to office (at 42) (Source: National Journal).
  • Former Governor Murkowski negotiated a deal for natural gas pipeline deal that was widely criticized as sweetheart deal with oil producers. Alaska legislators filed a lawsuit in November that had stopped the deal. Palin proposed a plan that would encourage large producers to compete against each other. She proposed the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, which would provide up to $500 million in seed money to begin the process of constructing the pipeline and also freeze production taxes for 10 years for producers that agree to transport their gas through the pipeline (Source: National Journal).
  • In the face of souring energy costs, Palin proposed using her state budget surplus on $100-a-month energy debit cards and providing grants to electrical utilities so that they would reduce customers' rates. Facing opposition from state legislators, she dropped the debit cards and proposed $100-a-month direct benefits. (Source: Anchorage Daily News).
• Palin has said that creationism should be taught alongside evolution in the state's public classrooms (Source: Anchorage Daily News). Alaska Gov. She opposes same-sex marriage and, as governor, vetoed a bill that sought to block the state from giving health benefits to the same-sex partners of public employees (Source: Anchorage Daily News).

Accomplishments

• Palin was runner-up for the Miss Alaska title, won Miss Congeniality in that contest, and plays the flute. (Source: CNN)

Criticism

• Palin is currently under investigation by an independent investigator hired by a legislative panel under allegations that the governor abused her power when firing Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. Palin dismissed Walter Monegan as Commissioner of Public Safety. She offered him a position as executive director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which he declined. Monegan said that members of Palin's administration and family pressured him to fire a Palmer Alaska State Trooper to whom her sister was involved in a bitter child custody battle (Source: Anchorage Daily News).

• Sarah Palin is an enthusiastic hunter who has proposed legislation and cash incentives to encourage aerial wolf gunning, the controversial practice of shooting wolves from an aircraft. Many hunters found the practice unsportsmanlike, since it violates the "fair chase" ethic, and animal rights activists call it inhumane, since airborne gunmen rarely get a clean (i.e., relatively painless) kill. (Source: Slate)

• An Anchorage judge three years ago warned Sarah Palin and members of her family to stop "disparaging" the reputation of Alaska State Trooper Michael Wooten, that it was "a form of child abuse." (Source: Newsweek)

• Governor Palin was found guilty by a bipartisan panel of "abus[ing] her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110 (a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act," investigator Steve Branchflower concluded in the panel's 263-page report. (Source: BBC News Americas)

Additional Information

Biography Links

• Sarah Palin Wikipedia Entry
• State of Alaska Website
• John McCain Campaign Profile