Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal The Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal, also known as Troopergate, involves the possibly illegal July 2008 dismissal of the Alaskan Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan by Governor Sarah Palin for not firing Alaskan State Trooper Mike Wooten, who was in a bitter divorce with Palin's Sister. On October 10, 2008, the twelve-member bipartisan Alaska Legislative Council hired investigator Stephen Branchflower to investigate the matter. The Legislative council voted unanimously to release the so called, Branchflower Report, which found that Palin had violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act covering state executive employees when she dismissed
1998 Alaska gubernatorial election 1998 Alaska gubernatorial election The 1998 Alaska gubernatorial general election took place on November 3, 1998. The election resulted in a landslide for the Democratic incumbent, Tony Knowles, who had won the 1994 gubernatorial election by only 536 votes. Knowles was the first incumbent governor to attain re-election since 1978. As of 2019, this is the most recent election in which a Democrat was elected Governor of Alaska and the most recent election in which an Alaskan governor was re-elected. Incumbent Democratic governor Tony Knowles was up for re-election. On the Republican side, three major candidates jockeyed for the nomination: