Politics of Alaska best performance, with a net gain of 7.5 percentage points. In 2008, Governor Sarah Palin became the first Republican woman to run on a national ticket when she became John McCain's running mate. She continued to be a prominent national figure even after resigning from the governor's job in July 2009. Politics of Alaska Political party strength in Alaska has varied over the years. The communities of Juneau, Sitka, downtown and midtown Anchorage, the areas surrounding the College/University of Alaska Fairbanks campus and Ester and the "Alaska Bush" – rural, sparsely populated Alaska – stand out as Democratic strongholds, while
Climate change in Alaska of alternative fuels for all consumers of automotive fuel. Alaska has a total of 0.7 million residents and ranks 46th in the nation in terms of GDP, which is $41.1 billion. In 2005, Alaska ranked 26th in the nations industrial energy consumption at 417.3 trillion Btu and 4th in the nations industrial natural gas consumption at 356.7 trillion Btu. Alaskas leading industry is food manufacturing, which is responsible for 7,621 jobs, $230.2 million in payroll, and $1,925.1 million in shipments. In addition, there is one complete R&D in Alaska. Governor Frank Murkowski created the Rural Energy Action Council to help