Alaska: Sarah Palin Endorses The Opponent Of Her Former Lt. Governor

Gov. Sean Parnell (L) and Bill Walker (R)

In an interesting bit of news, it seems the Sarah Palin, the former half-term governor of Alaska, has endorsed not her former Lt. Governor - Sean Parnell - who replaced her when she chose to quit in her first term, but his opponent, Independent candidate Bill Walker.

From the National Journal:

Parnell's 2013 restructuring of the state's oil and gas taxes dismantled a prior, Palin-championed program that she considered to be one of the greatest achievements of her tenure. That difference of opinion is at the heart of Palin's conflict with Parnell, which resulted in the two campaigning on opposite sides of a ballot measure in this year's primary.

It's worth noting that when Gov. Parnell indicated that he would appeal the recent ruling against the state's ban on same-sex marriage, Walker issued a statement that he felt an appeal would be an "unwise use of our dwindling resources:

Walker, an attorney, responded later Sunday with criticism of the state's decision to appeal the ruling. A recent ruling from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals -- which includes Alaska in its jurisdiction -- said bans on same-sex marriage violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Such higher court rulings make the probability of a successful appeal when similar bans have already been overturned in other states unlikely.

Walker said he personally viewed marriage as existing between a man and a woman, but added that if he were governor, he would "uphold the laws of the land."

"Despite my personal views on marriage, with the state's dire financial crisis, pursuing expensive litigation that has little chance of victory is an unwise use of our dwindling resources."

(via JMG)