Sean Parnell

Sean Parnell
10th Governor of Alaska
Incumbent
Assumed office  July 26, 2009
Lieutenant	Craig Campbell (2009-10) Mead Treadwell (since 2010)
Preceded by	Sarah Palin
11th Lieutenant Governor of Alaska
In office December 4, 2006 – July 26, 2009
Governor	Sarah Palin
Preceded by	Loren Leman
Succeeded by	Craig Campbell
Member of the Alaska Senate from the I district
In office January 13, 1997 – January 13, 2001
Preceded by	Steve Rieger
Succeeded by	John Cowdery
Member of the Alaska House of Representatives from the 17th district
In office January 11, 1993 – January 12, 1997
Preceded by	newly created district (redistricting)
Succeeded by	John Cowdery
Born	November 19, 1962 (age 48) Hanford, California
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Sandra Parnell
Children	Grace, Rachel
Residence	Governor's Mansion
Alma mater	Pacific Lutheran University University of Puget Sound
Profession	Lawyer
Signature
Website	Official website

Sean R. Parnell (born November 19, 1962) is an American Republican politician who is the tenth and current Governor of Alaska. He succeeded Sarah Palin following her resignation, and was sworn in at the Governor's Picnic in Fairbanks on July 26, 2009.^[1][2] Parnell was elected to a full term as Governor in November 2010, becoming the first unelected Alaska Governor to be later elected in his own right.^[3]

Early life

Parnell was born in Hanford, California. He is the son of Kevin "Pat" Parnell, who owned a printing company in Anchorage. He attended Pacific Lutheran University, earning his B.B.A. in 1984, and University of Puget Sound School of Law (now Seattle University School of Law) earning his law degree in 1987. He is admitted to the bar in both Alaska and Washington D.C.

Parnell was the Democratic nominee for Alaska's at-large congressional seat running against incumbent Don Young in 1980. He served as a Democratic member of Alaska's state house from 1991 to 1993.

Alaska legislature

In 1992, Parnell was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives, where he served two terms and was a member of the finance committee. In 1996, he ran for and was elected to a seat in the Alaska State Senate. In the Alaska Senate, he was a member of the Energy Council and served on and then co-chaired the Senate finance committee.^[4]

Lobbying career

Parnell left the Alaska Senate to become director of government relations in Alaska for the oil company ConocoPhillips.^[5]

In 2005, he joined the lobbying firm of Patton Boggs, where he advised clients on state and federal regulations in developing major oil and gas projects. Patton Boggs represented ExxonMobil in the Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation.^[6] In April 2005, Washingtonian and the Dallas Morning News reported that Patton Boggs was the first in revenue among lobbyists.^[7]

Parnell left Patton Boggs less than two years later on December 3, 2006^[8] to advise Governor Sarah Palin on issues related to commercializing Alaska North Slope gas.^[9][10]

Lieutenant governor

In 2005, Parnell ran in the Republican primary to become lieutenant governor. In the general election, he ran as Palin's running mate. In Alaska, the lieutenant governor runs separately from the governor in the primaries, but after the primaries, the nominees for governor and lieutenant governor run together as a slate. Palin and Parnell were elected.

2008 congressional campaign

On March 14, 2008, Parnell began his campaign to take on embattled 18-term Congress member Don Young in the August 26 Republican primary.^[11]

Parnell was endorsed by Sarah Palin,^[12] National Review magazine,^[13] and the anti-earmark Club for Growth.^[14]

On July 31, 2008, Parnell told Roll Call that he would not drop out in his race against Young to run against Senator Ted Stevens, who had been indicted.^[15]

Parnell lost the primary for the U.S. House seat. The margin between Young, the incumbent, and Parnell was narrow, and the winner was not immediately clear. The result released on September 18 showed Young winning by 304 votes. Parnell said the odds of overturning Young's victory were too small to warrant a recount.^[16]

Governor of Alaska

On July 26, 2009, halfway through her term as governor, Sarah Palin resigned. Parnell replaced her becoming Alaska's 10th governor in accordance with the Alaska Constitution.^[1] Craig Campbell, commissioner of Alaska's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, succeeded Parnell as lieutenant governor. Parnell and Campbell were sworn in to their new positions on July 26 by Alaska Supreme Court Associate Justice Daniel E. Winfree.

Parnell ran for a full term as governor in 2010. In the primary, he faced off against Bill Walker, a former Cabinet member and aide to the late Governor Walter J. Hickel, and former legislator, Ralph Samuels. Though Walker seemed to gain a lot of traction towards the end based on the issue of building a long-awaited natural gas pipeline, Samuels and Walker split the anti-Parnell vote and Parnell won the nomination. He faced off against former House Majority Leader and 2008 Congressional nominee, Ethan Berkowitz.^[17] and was elected with Mead Treadwell who had won the August primary for Lieutenant Governor. Though Berkowitz, and former 2006 Congressional nominee, Diane Benson, seemed to have the strongest ticket seen by Democrats in a while that included endorsements from Walker; Parnell-Treadwell eventually defeated Berkowitz-Benson by over ten points.^[18]

References

External links

• Office of Governor Sean Parnell official Alaska government site
• Parnell for Governor official campaign site
• Biography at the National Governors Association
• Biography, interest group ratings, public statements, vetoes and campaign finances at Project Vote Smart
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times

Political offices
Preceded by Loren Leman	Lieutenant Governor of Alaska 2006–2009	Succeeded by Craig Campbell
Preceded by Sarah Palin	Governor of Alaska 2009–present	Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Joe Biden as Vice President	Order of Precedence of the United States Within Alaska	Succeeded by Mayor of city in which event is held
Succeeded by Otherwise John Boehner as Speaker of the House of Representatives
Preceded by Jan Brewer as Governor of Arizona	Order of Precedence of the United States Outside Alaska	Succeeded by Neil Abercrombie as Governor of Hawaii