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,
Tom Cross (politician) Tom Cross (politician) Tom Cross (born July 31, 1958) is a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 97th district (previously the 84th district) where he served from 1993 to 2015. He served as House Minority Leader from January 2002 to August 2013, when he resigned to run for Illinois Treasurer. During his time as House Republican leader, Cross joined with then Senate Republican leader Frank Watson to referee the "rancorous" relationship between House and Senate Democrats and Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich. In February 2009, Cross and fellow Republican, ranking impeachment committee member Jim Durkin, spoke out