The Ted Stevens Indictment Is an Earthquake in Alaska Politics

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SNIP

The Stevens indictment is the most recent state-shattering tremor in an earthquake of change in Alaska politics. Stevens has represented Alaska in the Senate since December 1968, when he was appointed by Gov. Walter Hickel (who's still around!) to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Democrat Bob Bartlett, one of Alaska's first two senators. Young has served in the House since he won a special election to succeed Democrat Nick Begich, who was lost in a flight from Anchorage together with House Majority Leader Hale Boggs during the 1972 campaign. The earthquake began when Gov. Frank Murkowski, who served in the Senate from 1981 to 2002, was defeated for renomination in 2002—he finished a humiliating third—by Sarah Palin, then mayor of Wasilla, a prosperous town in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, which is a sort of overflow community from Anchorage. Palin campaigned as a critic of the way business was done in Juneau, and she was elected in November against former Gov. Tony Knowles (whose lieutenant governor candidate was Berkowitz). Palin has had high job approval, although she was recently criticized for dismissing the state law enforcement director; she has been mentioned as a possible Republican vice presidential candidate. Interestingly, last September, Palin called on Stevens to give a more thorough explanation of the charges.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/barone/2008/7/30/the-ted-stevens-indictment-is-an-earthquake-in-alaska-politics.html