The Alaskan Independence Party (AIP) is an Alaskan nationalist political party in the United States that advocates for an in-state referendum which would include the option of Alaska becoming an independent country. The party also supports gun rights, direct democracy, privatization, abolishing federal land ownership, and limited government.
Sarah Louise Palin 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.
The Gravina Island Bridge, commonly referred to as the "Bridge to Nowhere", was a proposed bridge to replace the ferry that currently connects the town of Ketchikan, Alaska, United States, with Gravina Island, an island that contains the Ketchikan International Airport as well as 50 residents. The bridge was projected to cost $398 million. Members of the Alaskan congressional delegation, particularly Representative Don Young and Senator Ted Stevens, were the bridge's biggest advocates in Congress, and helped push for federal funding. The project encountered fierce opposition outside Alaska as a symbol of pork barrel spending and is labeled as one of the more prominent "bridges to nowhere". As a result, Congress removed the federal earmark for the bridge in 2005. Funding for the "Bridge to Nowhere" was continued as of March 2, 2011, in the passing of H.R. 662: Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2011 by the House of Representatives, and finally cancelled in 2015.
Sean Randall Parnell is an American attorney and politician who was the tenth governor of Alaska from 2009 to 2014. He succeeded Sarah Palin in July 2009, and was elected governor in his own right in 2010 with 59.06% of the vote, as the largest percentage margin of any Alaska governor since the state's admission into the United States. In 2014, he narrowly lost his bid for re-election and returned to work in the private sector. He is a member of the Republican Party.
The Alaska Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in Alaska, headquartered in Anchorage.
Dennis William Egan was an American politician who was a member of the Alaska Senate representing Juneau from April 19, 2009, until January 15, 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the mayor of Juneau from February 13, 1995, to October 3, 2000, and was a member of the local assembly prior to that. Outside of politics, he was known for his work as a radio broadcaster, most notably for KINY, and was inducted to the Alaskan Broadcaster Association's Hall of Fame in 2001.
The sketch comedy television show Saturday Night Live aired several critically acclaimed sketches parodying then Alaskan Governor and vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin in the lead-up to the 2008 United States presidential election. The sketches featured former cast member Tina Fey, who returned as a guest star to portray Palin. Fey won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her impersonation of Palin.
Todd Mitchell Palin is an American businessman who was the first gentleman of Alaska from 2006 to 2009. He is the former husband of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee with John McCain.
The Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal, also known as Troopergate, involves the possibly illegal July 2008 dismissal of the Alaskan Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan by Republican Governor Sarah Palin. A complaint alleged that Palin dismissed Monegan because he did not fire Alaskan State Trooper Mike Wooten, who was in a bitter divorce with Palin's sister, Molly McCann.
Walter Carleton Monegan III is an American politician and the former Police Chief of Anchorage, Alaska, and later Commissioner of Public Safety for the state of Alaska. His dismissal in July 2008 by Alaska governor Sarah Palin drew considerable attention, particularly in the wake of Palin's selection as the Vice-Presidential nominee of the Republican Party the following month. Monegan accused Palin of not telling the truth about the reasons for his dismissal.
Bristol Sheeran Marie Palin is an American public speaker and reality television personality. She is the oldest daughter and second of five children of Todd and Sarah Palin.
In 2006, Sarah Palin was elected governor of Alaska. Running on a clean-government platform, Palin defeated incumbent Governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary election in August. She then went on to win the general election in November, defeating former Governor Tony Knowles 48.3% to 40.9%. Her running mate was State Senator Sean Parnell.
Sarah Palin, while serving as Governor of Alaska, was nominated as the first female candidate of the Republican Party for Vice President of the United States. Following the nomination, her public image came under close media scrutiny, particularly regarding her religious perspective on public life, her socially conservative views, and a perceived lack of experience. Palin's experience in foreign and domestic politics came under criticism among conservatives as well as liberals following her nomination. A poll taken by Rasmussen Reports just after the Republican National Convention in the first week of September 2008 found that Palin was more popular than either Barack Obama or John McCain; however, this perception later reversed. At the same time, Palin became more popular among Republicans than McCain. A February 2010 ABC News/Washington Post poll showed 71% of Americans felt Palin lacked the qualifications necessary to be President of the United States.
Craig Eaton Campbell is an American politician and businessman who served as the president and CEO of the Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC). He joined the corporation as chief operating officer in February 2011, and was appointed president and CEO by the board of directors in October 2012.
Larry Persily is a newspaper publisher and former Federal Coordinator of the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects 2010–2015. The office was charged with coordinating federal agency responses to private-sector efforts to develop a natural gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to supply the North American market. The Federal Coordinator is nominated with advice and consent of the Senate by the President of the United States. He was nominated by Barack Obama on December 9, 2009, and was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 10, 2010. The office closed down in 2015 as the private companies turned their attention to a gas export project instead.
Philip Munger is an American composer, music educator, political blogger, and environmentalist living in Alaska. He is perhaps best known for "The Skies are Weeping", a seven-movement cantata written in tribute to Rachel Corrie, an American member of the International Solidarity Movement killed in 2003 by a bulldozer operated by the Israel Defense Forces while she tried to prevent a house demolition in the southern Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada. He currently lectures on cultural history at two campuses of the University of Alaska Anchorage and occasionally teaches tuba at the main Anchorage campus. He was born in 1946 and attended Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Washington, where he studied musical composition.
Sarah Palin's candidacy for Vice President of the United States was publicly announced by then-presumptive Republican Party presidential candidate John McCain on August 29, 2008. As part of the McCain presidential campaign, Palin, then the incumbent Governor of Alaska, was officially nominated by acclamation at the 2008 Republican National Convention on September 3. The McCain–Palin ticket lost the 2008 presidential election on November 4 to the Barack Obama–Joe Biden ticket.
Ermalee Hickel was an American public figure and philanthropist who served as the second and seventh First Lady of Alaska from 1966 to 1969 and again from 1990 to 1994. She was the wife of the former Governor of Alaska Wally Hickel and one of the last members of Alaska's generation of pioneer political families.
Bella Hammond was an American activist and commercial fisherman. Hammond served as the First Lady of Alaska from 1974 until 1982 during the tenure of her husband, former Governor Jay Hammond. She was the first person of Alaska Native descent to reside in the Alaska Governor's Mansion.
