Governorship of Sarah Palin December 4, 2006, and maintained a high approval rating throughout her term. On July 3, 2009, Sarah Palin announced her resignation as governor of Alaska. She stepped down on July 26, 2009, being replaced by Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell. Palin had championed ethics reform throughout her election campaign. Her first legislative action after taking office was to push for a bipartisan ethics reform bill. She signed the resulting legislation in July 2007, calling it a "first step" declaring that she remains determined to clean up Alaska politics. However, Palin was also the subject of an ethics probe concerning her brother-in-law,
Mike Dunleavy (politician) Senate caucus after numerous replacement candidates were rejected by either. Dunleavy and Kevin Meyer were the Republican nominees for governor and lieutenant governor of Alaska, respectively, and were elected in the November 2018 general election. Dunleavy was the first Governor elected in 2018 to be sworn in on December 3, 2018. Mike Dunleavy (politician) Mike J. Dunleavy (born May 5, 1961) is an American politician who is the 12th and current governor of Alaska, since 2018. A Republican, Dunleavy was a member of the Alaska Senate from 2013 through 2018. Dunleavy defeated former Democratic United States Senator Mark Begich in