The Story:
Sarah Palin, who was Governor of Alaska (2006 – 2009) and who ran for Vice President of the United States on the ticket with the late Senator John McCain in 2008, is running to become the next U.S. Congresswoman from Alaska. This is an “at large” position: all of Alaska is a single Congressional district.
Background:
Palin entered politics in the early 1990s, when she was elected to the City Council of Wasilla, Alaska (the fourth largest city in the state). She was elected Mayor in 1996, and accepted an appointment to the state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2003. A tortuous chain of events led from there to the office of Governor.
When John McCain named her as his running mate in 2008, Palin became only the second woman nominated by a major political party for that post. (Twenty-four years before, Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale had picked New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro.) Like Mondale-Ferraro, the McCain-Palin ticket was unsuccessful, but Palin has been a presence in Republican politics ever since.
The Thing to Know:
On the first of this month, Palin announced that she is running for the Congressional seat left open when Rep. Don Young died. This is not part of the November election. It is a special election that will take place on August 16th.
