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,
John Harris (Alaska politician) for Alaska governor in 2010, but dropped out of the race over fundraising concerns. Harris has asked Ben Stevens, former Alaska state senator and son of Ted Stevens, to resign from his position on the Republican National Committee. Stevens is under investigation for his ties to the oil field services company Veco Corp. In 2002, Harris offered an amendment that would have stopped an increase in state alcohol tax. In 2001, due to legal problems posed when pilots fly into Canada, he introduced a bill to change the law requiring pilots to carry a gun as part of their survival