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
Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Lucien Bouchard. Bouchard thereafter exploited the revelation of Roux's past anti-Semitism and the Lieutenant Governor soon resigned his post voluntarily in 1996. The following year, Bouchard tabled in the legislature three motions, calling the Office of the Lieutenant Governor "a heritage of the colonial past", the appointment process controversial and interfering, and demanding the post be abolished, though, until then, the federal Crown-in-Council should appoint a person "democratically designated by the [Quebec] Assembly". Since 1997 there is no longer an official residence; the Lieutenant Governors must instead obtain their own home in or near the capital. However, they still retain