Todd Palin
Todd Mitchell Palin (born September 6, 1964)[3] is an American businessman who was the first gentleman of Alaska from 2006 to 2009. He is the former husband of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee with John McCain.
Todd Palin
Nancy Murkowski
(First Lady)
Sandra Parnell
(First Lady)
Alaska Independence (1995–2002)
Wasilla, Alaska, U.S.
Oil field production worker[2]
Commercial fisherman
Snowmachine racer
Early life and education[edit]
Palin was born and raised in Dillingham, Alaska to James F. "Jim" and Blanche Palin (née Roberts).[4][5] Palin has Yup'ik, Dutch, and English ancestry.[6][7] His grandmother Lena Andree was the daughter of a Dutch-American father and a Yup'ik mother and she grew up speaking both English and Yup'ik. Andree grew up in the now abandoned community of Tuklung in a mixed race region of Bristol Bay and was a member of an Alaska Native corporation, but was not an enrolled citizen of any tribe. Palin is not actively involved in Native politics or any Native organizations, but receives dividends from the Bristol Bay Native Corporation. His blood quantum is one-eighth and that of his children is one-sixteenth. Because he is a non-enrolled lineal descendant of an enrolled Alaska Native (his great-grandmother), he and his children are eligible for health benefits under federal law through the 1970 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.[8] Tuklung was consolidated into the Manokotak Village, a federally recognized tribe.[9]
In 1982, Palin graduated from Wasilla High School, which is the same alma mater of his wife and their eldest two children, son Track and daughter Bristol. He has taken some college courses but did not complete a degree.[5]
Career[edit]
Palin was a union member and belonged to the United Steelworkers union.[10]
For eighteen years, he worked for BP in the North Slope oil fields of Alaska. In 2007, in order to avoid a conflict of interest that related to his wife's position as governor, he took a leave[11] from his job as production supervisor, when his employer became involved in natural gas pipeline negotiations with his wife's administration.[5] Seven months later, because the family needed more income, Todd returned to BP. In order to avoid potential conflict of interest, this time, he accepted a non-management position as a production operator.[2][11] He resigned from his job on September 18, 2009, with the stated reason as a desire to spend more time with his family.[12]
He is also a commercial salmon fisherman at Bristol Bay on the Nushugak River.[5]
Public life[edit]
Voter registration[edit]
Palin first registered to vote in 1989. From October 1995 through July 2002, except for a few months in 2000, he was registered to vote as a member of the Alaskan Independence Party.[13] In late August 2008, The Politico reported that Palin was registered to vote as an independent (undeclared), and had never registered as a Republican.[14] His wife, Sarah, confirmed that he is not registered with any party both in her 2009 memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life, and in a Q&A session following a 2010 address to a national convention of the Tea Party in Nashville, Tennessee.[15][16]
Champion snowmachine racer[edit]
Palin is a four-time champion of the Tesoro Iron Dog, the world's longest snowmachine race,[18][26] which traces the path of the Iditarod race with an extra journey of several hundred miles to Fairbanks added.
Palin has competed in the Tesoro every year since 1993.[18] His racing teammate is Scott Davis, with whom he won in 2007.[27] He has previously raced with Dusty Van Meter in the race, and they were co-champions in 2000 and 2002.[28] In 1995, Palin partnered with Dwayne Drake for his first win.[28]
In 2008, while defending his Tesoro Iron Dog championship, he was injured and broke his arm 400 miles (640 km) from the finish line [29] when he was thrown 70 feet[30] from his machine.[31] He was sent to the hospital but managed to finish in fourth place.[32]
In 2016, trying for another Tesoro Iron Dog championship, he was forced to scratch at checkpoint Nenana, 112 miles from the finish, when partner Shane Barber suffered engine trouble.[33]
In March 2016, Palin was seriously injured in a snowmachine crash, suffering a collapsed lung, fractured ribs, and a broken clavicle and shoulder blade.[34]
Personal life[edit]
In August 1988, Palin eloped with his high-school girlfriend Sarah Heath.[44] The Palins have five children: Track Charles James (b. 1989), who has enlisted in the United States Army and deployed to Iraq on September 11, 2008; Bristol Sheeran Marie (b. 1990);[45] Willow Bianca Faye (b. 1994); Piper Indy Grace (b. 2001);[18] and Trig Paxson Van (b. 2008), who has Down syndrome;[46][47][48] they also have nine grandchildren.[49]
Palin fishes and holds a Private Pilot Certificate.[50][51] He also owns his own aircraft, a Piper PA-18 Super Cub.[52]
Palin's stepmother, Faye Palin, ran unsuccessfully in 2002 for the position of mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, to succeed Palin's wife, who was term-limited. Faye Palin, who is pro-choice and a registered Democrat, lost to Dianne M. Keller, a candidate endorsed by Sarah Palin.[53]
Palin filed for divorce from Sarah on August 29, 2019, citing "incompatibility of temperament".[54] The divorce was finalized on March 23, 2020.[55][56]