Palin was a member of the Wasilla, Alaska, city council from 1992 to 1996 and the city's mayor from 1996 to 2002. After an unsuccessful campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Alaska in 2002, she chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004. She was elected Governor of Alaska in November 2006. Palin is the first female governor of Alaska and the youngest person elected governor of that state.
Surprise move, Aleska GovernorSarahPlain said on Friday that she was stepping down and would not seek re-election, fueling swift speculation of a possible 2012 White House bid.
Palin, who was Republican John McCains’s controversial running mate in his failed 2008 White house bid, said she would step aside as governor in “another few weeks” and be replaced by Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell at the governor’s picnic in Fairbanks, Alaska on July 26.
Palin, 45, told a press conference at her lakefront home in Wasilla, Alaska, that she wanted to “take a stand and effect change, not just hit our head against the wall and watch valuable state time and money.
