Notes:  On July 3, 2009, in a big surprise, Gov. Sarah Palin (R) announced she would not seek re-election in 2010 and would resign at the end of the month (>).  Palin resigned effective July 26 and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell (R) was sworn in (>).  Parnell continued Palin's policies and sought election as governor in his own right.
 
Parnell faced competition in the Aug. 24, 2010 primary.  Six candidates were on the ballot; he topped the field with 50.12%, followed by attorney Bill Walker at 33.09% and former House Majority Leader Ralph Samuels at 14.24% of 107,982 votes tallied.  Mead Treadwell, a businessman and former Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, won the Aug. 24 primary race for lieutenant governor with 52.90% of the vote and joined Parnell on the Republican ticket.  (Walker, the second place finisher, was mentioned as a possible candidate for the AIP nomination, but that went to Donald Wright.  He ruled out a possible write-in candidacy in late September).

Competing for the Democratic nomination were state Sen. Hollis French and former state House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz, who served in the House from 1997 to 2007.  In the Aug. 24 primary, Berkowitz defeated French by 48.69% to 38.81%.  In the race for lieutenant governor, Diane Benson, a writer and dramatist who was the Democratic nominee for U.S. House in 2006 and ran again in 2008, tallied 64.68% of the vote and joined Berkowitz on the Democratic ticket.  Berkowitz branded his campaign "Energize Alaska." 

Energy issues were central in the campaign.  Both the Alaska's Clear and Equitable Shares production tax and the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act and subsequent agreement with TransCanada to build a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope, were negotiated under the Palin administration.

On Aug. 27 Berkowitz announced "Own a Piece of the Pipe," a proposal wherein individual Alaskans could finance the pipeline through their permanent fund dividends.  In the succeeding weeks into October, Berkowitz rolled out four more parts of his "Alaskan Ownership Stake" plan.

There were many debates including:

•  June 3 - fisheries debate hosted by the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce (major Republican and Democratic candidates);

general election:

• Sept. 14 - Kenai/Soldotna Chamber of Commerce;

• Sept. 20 - Anchorage Chamber of Commerce (Parnell, Berkowitz and Toien);

• Oct. 12 - at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks;

• Oct. 28 - Alaska Public Broadcasting at KAKM studios in Anchorage (>).

The high profile U.S. Senate race overshadowed the governor's race.
 

Campaign Managers:
Sean Parnell:  Michelle Toohey
(started on the campaign in Dec. 2009)  Previously deputy press secretary to Gov. Parnell.  Legislative aide in Juneau, 1987-96.  B.A. in broadcast journalism from Central Washington University, 1986.

Ethan Berkowitz:  Jonathan Blair