2006 Governors Races

Alaska CBS NEWS PROJECTS SARAH PALINWINNER Democrat Tony Knowles vs. Republican Sarah Palin With her victory in the GOP primary, Palin ended incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski’s rocky tenure. Murkowski had been criticized for appointing his daughter to the Senate seat he vacated to run for governor in 2002. He made the creation of a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48 states a central issue of his campaign, but many saw Murkowski’s proposal as more favorable to the oil companies than to Alaskans. Both Palin and Knowles said they wanted to consider all pipeline proposals. In early August, BP was forced to shut down a pipeline because of corrosion. The operation accounted for about 8 percent of U.S. domestic production. Carl Shepro, a professor of political science at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, told The New York Times Palin is "very atypical" of Alaska Republican politicians. "She’s not the picture of the real conservative Republican." Former Gov. Knowles could not run for Governor in 2002 because he was term-limited. He was popular, and some polls showed him as the frontrunner in the general election, if going against Murkowski, but going against Palin was a different story. There was also a write-in campaign, which received media attention as far away as South Florida. The candidate’s name was Brinkley. And he’s a 2-year-old Golden Retriever. Ruth Sisk, the dog’s owner, raised about $4,000 from T-Shirt sales. Most of the money from the campaign, Sisk says, will go to the American Society For Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals.