Sean Parnell Sean Parnell Sean R. Parnell (born November 19, 1962) is an American politician of the Republican Party. He succeeded Sarah Palin on 26 July 2009 to become the tenth governor of Alaska and served until 2014. Parnell was elected governor in his own right in 2010 by 59.06% of the vote, as the largest percentage margin of any Alaska governor since statehood. In 2014, he narrowly lost his bid for re-election and has since returned to work in the private sector. Born in Hanford, California, Parnell is a graduate from the University of Puget Sound's School of Law (now known
Alaska Democratic Party days (pre-1959), featuring such characters as territorial governor and later national senator Ernest Gruening. Gruening was one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized an expansion of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Bob Bartlett, also a democrat, and erstwhile secretary of the territory, was the first senator from Alaska, and remained a senator until his death in 1968. William A. Egan, also of the Alaska Democratic Party, was elected the first governor of the State of Alaska. Until the election of current governor Bill Walker, he was the only governor of Alaska