Palin pushes a political comeback
Ex-governor, VP nominee seeking seat in US House
WASILLA, Alaska — Sarah Palin isn’t used to sharing the spotlight.
In the nearly 14 years since she burst onto the national political scene, the former Alaska governor has appeared on reality television programs, written books, spent time as a Fox News contributor, formed a political action committee in her name and been a rumored White House contender. She more recently revived her status as a conservative sensation with an ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit against The New York Times.
Now, the first Republican female vice presidential nominee is vying for what could be considered a less glamorous role: a member of the U.S. House.
Palin is among 48 candidates running for Alaska’s lone House seat following the death last month of Republican Rep. Don Young, who held the job for nearly 50 years.
If successful, Palin would be one of 435 members in a chamber where ambition runs deep, but legislating is tough, in no small part because of the populist politics that took hold in the aftermath of the 2008 election.
Given those dynamics, it would be easy to dismiss Palin’s candidacy as the latest headline-grabbing twist in an unconventional career.
Some of Palin’s critics have sought to cast her as an opportunist seeking to bolster her brand. The opinion section of the website of Alaska’s largest newspaper is dotted with letters
to the editor urging Alaskans to reject her run. Some remind readers she left the last major job she had in politics, as Alaska’s governor, with about 16 months left in her term.
But Palin, 58, dismissed such critiques. She insisted her commitment to Alaska has not wavered and those who suggest otherwise “don’t know me.” She said she is serious about seeking the House seat and doesn’t need a “launching pad for anything else.”
In fact, she said, her unique place in American politics would put her in a stronger position in Washington. Unlike other freshmen lawmakers, she said, she could “pick up the phone and call any reporter and be on any show if I wanted to, and it would be all about Alaska.”
“I love to work, and anyone who is around me, they know,” she said. “What I’m doing is applying for a job, for Alaskans, saying: ‘Hey, you guys would be my
boss. Do you want to hire me? Because if you do, I’ll do a good job for you, and I won’t back down.’ ”
In Anchorage this week, Palin and the youngest of her five children, son Trig, attended the opening of her campaign office. She stopped to talk to reporters before entering the building, which had been the headquarters for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Inside, Palin posed for photos with supporters and chatted with several before cutting and serving a cake that featured her campaign slogan, “Sarah for Alaska.”
“I mean, we’re going to just, you know, stick with the issues and stick with the plans that we have for Alaska,” she told supporters. Jobs for Alaskans from the state’s rich natural resources would be her first priority if elected, she said, and called the state “the Fort Knox of our great Union.”
There’s only one former governor who is currently
a member of the House — Democrat Charlie Crist of Florida. Palin faces several hurdles to get there.
One is navigating elections that will unfold in rapid order.
A June 11 special primary will be the first statewide by-mail election. The four candidates who get the most votes will advance to an Aug. 16 special election, in which rankedchoice voting will be used. The winner will serve the remainder of Young ’s term, which expires in January.
There also will be an August primary and November general election to determine who will serve a two-year term starting in January. Palin is one of 16 candidates so far to have filed for the regular primary.
Some voters question Palin’s decision to leave the governor’s office, a move she has attributed to an onslaught of records requests and ethics complaints she said were
frivolous and had become distractions.
She has spent time out of the state but maintains a home in Wasilla, her hometown and where she got her start in politics.
“Well, I’m sorry if that narrative is out there because it’s inaccurate,” she told the AP of the perception she had left Alaska behind. She said Alaska is her home and that she was “shoveling moose poop” on a recent sunny day before calling a reporter.
She has regularly voted in state elections since leaving office, according to the Division of Elections.
“I’m still all about Carhartts and steel-toed boots and just hard work,” Palin said, referring to a popular brand of outerwear. “I just have been blessed with opportunities and a platform to get out there and tell and show other people the beauty of being an Alaskan.”
The contest in Republican-leaning Alaska will do little to change the balance of power in Washington. But the election is being closely watched as a barometer of Trump’s connection to the GOP’s most loyal voters.
In Wasilla, Trump 2020 or Trump 2024 banners fly from several homes, the few political signs seen so far this election year. Palin said if Trump runs for president in 2024 and asks her to be his running mate, she’d consider it, though she said he could choose anyone and they haven’t had such a candid conversation.
Palin said Trump was among those who contacted her after Young’s death asking if she would be willing to run. She said this is a good time in her life to seek a return to office, politically and personally. Her family life has changed, she noted, with her four older children grown. Trig is in middle school. Palin was divorced from Todd Palin, her husband of more than 30 years, in 2020.
Palin said she feels like she has “nothing to lose” in running. After having her political and personal life in the media glare for so long, “what more can they say?” she said, adding later: “To me, it’s freedom.”
Trump has endorsed Palin and has made the state’s senior U.S. senator, Lisa Murkowski, one of his top targets this year after she criticized him and voted to convict him during his second impeachment trial.
Even if Palin doesn’t win the election, she could emerge as a high-wattage critic of Murkowski, who faces voters later this year. Palin said she disagrees with Murkowski on some of her positions, including her vote to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial.
But on issues like resource development in Alaska, Palin said she believed they would be “on the same sheet of music.”