GOVERNOR OF ALASKA
In 2006, Palin ran for governor of Alaska, defeating the sitting Republican governor in the primary before winning the general election. On December 4, 2006, she was sworn in as Alaska's governor, becoming both the youngest person and the first woman to hold the office.
As governor, she pursued an agenda built around energy policy and government ethics. Her administration pushed forward the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, an effort to jump-start construction of a long-discussed natural gas pipeline in the state's northern region, and she signed sweeping reforms to state ethics laws. In 2007, she signed the largest budget in Alaska's history at the time, a $6.6 billion package that also included significant cuts to certain state construction projects. Her approval ratings during this period were unusually high, and she was often described in national press coverage as a rising star within the Republican Party, admired for a plainspoken style that set her apart from more conventional politicians.
