Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin
Palin in 2021
9th Governor of Alaska
In office December 4, 2006 – July 26, 2009
Lieutenant	Sean Parnell
Preceded by	Frank Murkowski
Succeeded by	Sean Parnell
Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
In office February 19, 2003 – January 23, 2004
Governor	Frank Murkowski
Deputy	Mike Bill Randy Ruedrich Daniel Seamount
Preceded by	Camille Taylor
Succeeded by	John Norman
Mayor of Wasilla
In office October 14, 1996 – October 14, 2002
Preceded by	John Stein
Succeeded by	Dianne Keller
Member of the Wasilla City Council from Ward E
In office October 19, 1992 – October 14, 1996
Preceded by	Dorothy Smith
Succeeded by	Colleen Cottle
Personal details
Born	Sarah Louise Heath (1964-02-11) February 11, 1964 (age 60) Sandpoint, Idaho, U.S.
Political party	Republican (1982–present)
Spouse	Todd Palin ​ ​ (m. 1988; div. 2020)​
Children	5, including Bristol
Education	University of Idaho (BA)
Signature
Website	Official website

This article is part of a series about Sarah Palin
Early political career Political positions Electoral history Public image Saturday Night Live parodies Governorship (2006–2009) 2006 election Resignation 2008 vice presidential campaign (Main article) Selection Convention Election Going Rogue: An American Life Sarah Palin's Alaska
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Sarah Louise Palin (/ˈpeɪlɪn/ ^ⓘ PAY-lin; 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 under 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 presidential campaign. 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, sold more than one million copies.

In 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.