She was Sarah Heath when I knew her. I played basketball against her from a rival Valley school for five years. She was a tough competitor and a sweet person then, and it looks like she's still both of those things now. And she clearly has widespread support with GOP voters (in a red state), because a good bit of the Mat-Su Valley (her home region) was dealing with terrible flooding and damage on election day.
Here's this morning's results from the Anchorage Daily News:
Link: adn.com | elections : Knowles, Palin in November.
Knowles, Palin in November
Published: August 22, 2006
Last Modified: August 23, 2006 at 04:24 AMFormer Wasilla mayor Sarah Palin knocked embattled incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski out of office in the Republican primary race for governor Tuesday, setting the stage for a general election showdown with former two-term Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles and for a potential shake-up in her own party.
Palin’s advantage looked insurmountable while Knowles walloped lesser-known challenger Eric Croft, an Anchorage state representative, after a wild election day marked by flooding in the soggy Mat-Su Valley, downpours in Anchorage and a Murkowski campaign volunteer falling victim to stray gunfire.
[...]
Knowles and Palin offered a similar message Tuesday night. With her supporters sensing victory at her campaign party in the Hotel Captain Cook, Palin talked about the problem with “politics as usual.” Someone in the crowd shouted “Let’s take Alaska back!” to roaring applause. Former Alaska Gov. Wally Hickel, a Palin supporter, smiled and raised his fist.
Maybe half an hour later, Knowles and his running mate, Anchorage Rep. Ethan Berkowitz, addressed the Democratic faithful. “This is our state and we’re taking it back,” Berkowitz said, drawing cheers. Knowles said it was time to reclaim the state from cronyism and favoritism.
The Republican contest emerged as election day’s main event, because it could — and did — guarantee a new governor at a time when Alaska politicans are trying to spark the next economic boom with a natural gas pipeline. John Binkley, a former state senator and Fairbanks businessman, was in second place — well ahead of Murkowski but with no chance of catching Palin.
[Sarah got 51% of the vote to Binkley's 29%. Murkowski got 18%]
In his campaign, Binkley often talked about trust and presented himself as a thoughtful alternative to Murkowski’s sometimes gruff style. Palin painted Binkley as part of the same Republican party machinery that she defied as a member of a state oil and gas commission when she told the state that party chairman and fellow commissioner Randy Ruedrich was mixing his political and state jobs.
Will the party rally in support of Palin now that she’s the nominee? “That’s a good question,” she said. “I never had help from the party from the beginning, it’s been an independent run.”
Later, Palin suggested Ruedrich should resign.
Ruedrich said he doesn’t intend to step down as head of the party. “I was elected for four years through a normal process and I look forward to working with her (Palin).”
[...]
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