Sarah Palin
- Party
Republican - Date of Birth
11/02/1964 - State
Alaska - Family
Married, five children - Religion
Christian
Sarah Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho on February 11th, 1964 and moved to Alaska with her parents as an infant.
She grew up Wasilla, near Anchorage and studied journalism and political science at the University of Idaho. She worked in a commercial fishing business with her husband and as a television sportscaster before entering politics.
She served on the Wasilla City Council and two terms as mayor of the town from from 1996 to 2002. She was later appointed to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission where she served as Ethics Supervisor.
She resigned in January 2004 in protest over what she called the "lack of ethics" of fellow Republican members of the Commission.
She became Alaskas first woman and youngest ever governor when she was elected in 2006, running on a clean government platform.
She describes herself as a devout Christian. Deeply conservative, she is anti-abortion, an avid hunter and a member of the National Rifle Association.
She has strongly promoted oil and natural gas resource development in Alaska and listed protecting "our state sovereignty by taking on the big oil industry interests as her main achievement as governor.
Palin is married to her husband Todd, with whom she has five children.
She announced on September 1st that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter Bristol was pregnant and would keep the baby and marry the father. The revelation was prompted by internet rumours that Palin had faked a pregnancy and pretended to have given birth in May to her fifth child, a son named Trig who has Down's syndrome. The rumours claimed the child was Bristols.
Campaign website:
Governor's website:
