Sarah Louise Heath Palin (born February 11, 1964), Sandpoint, Idaho
Governor Sarah Palin made history on Dec. 4, 2006, when she took office. As the 11th governor of Alaska, she is the first woman to hold the office.
Since taking office, her top priorities have been resource development, education and workforce development, public health and safety, and transportation and infrastructure development.
Under her leadership, Alaska invested $5 billion in state savings, overhauled education funding, and implemented the Senior Benefits Program that provides support for low-income older Alaskans. She created Alaska’s Petroleum Systems Integrity Office to provide oversight and maintenance of oil and gas equipment, facilities and infrastructure, and the Climate Change Subcabinet to prepare a climate change strategy for Alaska.
Highlights of Governor Palin’s tenure include a successful push for an ethics bill, and also shelving pork-barrel projects. During her first legislative session, Governor Palin’s administration passed two major pieces of legislation – an overhaul of the state’s ethics laws and a competitive process to construct a gas pipeline.
Palin’s tenure is noted for her independence from big oil companies, while still promoting resource development. Palin has announced plans to create a new sub-cabinet group of advisors, to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska.
After federal funding for the Gravina Island Bridge project that had become a nationwide symbol of wasteful earmark spending was lost, Palin decided against filling the over $200 million gap with state money. “Alaska needs to be self-sufficient instead of relying heavily on ‘federal dollars,’ as the state does today.”
Governor Palin is chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, a multi-state government agency that promotes the conservation and efficient recovery of domestic oil and natural gas resources while protecting health, safety and the environment.
She was recently named chair of the National Governors Association (NGA) Natural Resources Committee, which is charged with pursuing legislation to ensure state needs are considered as federal policy is formulated in the areas of agriculture, energy, environmental protection and natural resource management. Prior to being named to this position, she served as co-chair of this committee.
Prior to her election as governor, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council and two terms as the mayor/manager of Wasilla. During her tenure, she reduced her own salary and property tax levels by 40% while increasing services and made Wasilla a business friendly environment, drawing in new industry.
She has served as chair of the Alaska Conservation Commission, which regulates Alaska’s most valuable non-renewable resources: oil and gas. She was elected by her peers to serve as president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. In this role, she worked with local, state and federal officials to promote solutions to the needs of Alaska’s communities. Governor Murkowski appointed Palin Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, where she served from 2003 to 2004
Govenor Palin is the daughter of Sarah (née Sheeran), a school secretary, and Charles R. Heath, a science teacher and track coach. She has English, Irish, and German ancestry. The Heaths were avid outdoors enthusiasts; Sarah and her father would sometimes wake at 3 a.m. to hunt moose before school, and the family regularly ran 5 km and 10 km races
Sarah Heath Palin arrived in Alaska with her family in 1964, when her parents came to teach school in Skagway and has lived in Eagle River and Wasilla as well. She received a bachelor of science degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987 where she also minored in politics.
Palin, who graduated from Wasilla High School in 1982, was the head of the school Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the point guard and captain for the basketball team that won the Alaska small-school championship in 1982, Sarah hit a critical free throw in the last seconds, despite a stress fracture in her ankle. She earned the nickname “Sarah Barracuda” because of her intense play and was the leader of team prayer before games.
In 1984, after winning the Miss Wasilla contest, Palin finished second in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant which earned her a scholarship which helped pay her way through college. In the Wasilla pageant where her talent was flute playing she was named Miss Congeniality.
She is married to Todd Palin her high school sweetheart on August 29, 1988, who is a lifelong Alaskan, a production operator on the North Slope and a four-time champion of the Iron Dog, the world’s longest snowmachine race. The two eloped shortly after Palin graduated from college; when they learned they needed witnesses for the civil ceremony, they recruited two residents from the old-age home down the street. The Palin family lives in Wasilla, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Anchorage.
Todd and Sarah fish in Bristol Bay with their children – Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig. Through Todd’s Yup’ik grandmother, Alaska’s Native heritage plays an important role in their family. Track enlisted in the U.S. Army on Sept. 11, 2007. He now serves in an infantry brigade and will be deployed to Iraq in September 2008.
On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome. She returned to the office three days after giving birth. Palin refused to let the results of prenatal genetic testing change her decision to have the baby. “I’m looking at him right now, and I see perfection,” Palin said. “Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?
Prior to taking office, Palin served on numerous boards and commissions throughout the state. She was active in her family’s pursuits – including serving as a sports team mom and school volunteer. She also runs marathons.
Palin holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association and enjoys hunting, ice fishing, Alaska history, and all that Alaska’s great outdoors has to offer. She eats moose hamburger, rides snowmobiles, and owns a float plane.
