Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin
Palin in 2021
9th Governor of Alaska
In office
December 4, 2006 – July 26, 2009
LieutenantSean Parnell
Preceded byFrank Murkowski
Succeeded bySean Parnell
Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
In office
February 19, 2003 – January 23, 2004
GovernorFrank Murkowski
DeputyMike Bill
Randy Ruedrich
Daniel Seamount
Preceded byCamille Taylor
Succeeded byJohn Norman
Mayor of Wasilla
In office
October 14, 1996 – October 14, 2002
Preceded byJohn Stein
Succeeded byDianne Keller
Member of the Wasilla City Council
from Ward E
In office
October 19, 1992 – October 14, 1996
Preceded byDorothy Smith
Succeeded byColleen Cottle
Personal details
Born
Sarah Louise Heath

(1964-02-11) February 11, 1964 (age 60)
Sandpoint, Idaho, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
(m. 1988; div. 2020)
Children5, including Bristol
EducationUniversity of Idaho (BA)
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website

Sarah Louise Palin (/ˈplɪn/ ; née Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee alongside U.S. Senator John McCain.

Palin was elected to the Wasilla city council in 1992 and became mayor of Wasilla in 1996. In 2003, after an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor, she was appointed chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, responsible for overseeing the state's oil and gas fields for safety and efficiency. In 2006, at age 42, she became the youngest person and the first woman to be elected governor of Alaska.[1] Immense legal fees incurred by both Palin and the state of Alaska from her fights against ethics investigations led to her resignation in 2009.[2]

Palin was nominated as John McCain's vice presidential running mate at the 2008 Republican National Convention. She was the first Republican female vice presidential nominee and the second female vice presidential nominee of a major party, after Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. The McCain-Palin ticket subsequently lost the 2008 election to the Democratic Party's then-U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Throughout the race, her public image and experience came under media attention. Although her vice presidential bid alongside McCain was unsuccessful, the 2008 presidential election significantly raised Palin's national profile.

Since her resignation as governor in 2009, she has campaigned for the fiscally conservative Tea Party movement. In addition, she has publicly endorsed several candidates in multiple election cycles, including Donald Trump in his 2016 run for president. She has also led a career as a television personality. From 2010 to 2015, she provided political commentary for Fox News.[3] She hosted TLC's Sarah Palin's Alaska in 2010–11 and Amazing America with Sarah Palin on the Sportsman Channel in 2014–15.[4][5] From 2014 to 2015, she oversaw a short-lived subscriber-based online TV channel, the Sarah Palin Channel, via TAPP TV.[6][7] Her personal memoir Going Rogue, written following the 2008 election, has sold more than one million copies.

In the summer of 2022, Palin ran in the special election for Alaska's at-large congressional seat that was vacated after the death of Representative Don Young,[8] but lost to Democrat Mary Peltola, who completed Young's unfinished term.[9] Palin faced Peltola and others again in the November general election for the same seat, and again lost to Peltola, who won re-election to serve a full two-year term.

  1. ^ "BBC News – Profile: Sarah Palin". BBC News. October 5, 2011. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  2. ^ Snow, Kate (July 6, 2009). "Sarah Palin: Why She Resigned". ABC News. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  3. ^ Allen, Mike (June 24, 2015). "Fox drops Sarah Palin". Politico. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  4. ^ "Amazing America with Sarah Palin Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  5. ^ "Former Reality Star Sarah Palin Returns to Television". The Daily Beast. February 21, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  6. ^ Grove, Lloyd (July 28, 2014). "'Lamestream Media' Execs Are Running Palin TV". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "Sarah Palin's subscription web channel going offline". USA Today. Associated Press. July 8, 2015.
  8. ^ Ulloa, Jazmine; Peters, Jeremy W. (April 2, 2022). "Sarah Palin Announces She's Running for Congress in Alaska". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  9. ^ Bohrer, Becky (August 31, 2022). "Peltola beats Palin, wins Alaska House special election". Associated Press. Retrieved August 31, 2022.