Several days have gone by since the general election and a convicted but appealing Republican Senator Ted Stevens is still looking like the likely winner. In the case he does win, and is forced to resign, is expelled by fellow senators, or sent to jail, there has been a lot debate over who will replace him.

In 2002, a remarkably similar scenario played out in Alaska. At that time Senator Frank Murkowski, won the Alaskan Gubernatorial Election. A law passed during his election and approved by the state Legislature, transfered the right to appoint Senate replacements from the sitting governor to the incoming governor. This law gave Mr. Murkowski the ability appoint his senate replacement, not the sitting Governor, Tony Knowles.

Upon inauguration, Murkowski resigned his Senate seat and appointed his daughter, Lisa Murkowski, in his place. Lisa was a a member of the Alaska House of Representatives, and had some experience in government, but not enough to mark her as the clear best choice. Because of this experience gap and the fact that he chose his own daughter, Murkowski's opponents branded this choice "nepotism" or favoritism. The public agreed with this accessment. As a result, a ballot measure passed in 2004 stripped governors of the power to appoint senator replacements. Alaska is one of only three states to pass a law like this. In the same year, the state legislature that transfered the ability in the first place, granted the governor the ability to name a temporary replacement, if a case like this ever arose again (his daughter remained a senator and eventually won re-election). As these two laws conflict, it is unclear as to what options Sarah has. The Alaska Supreme Court will have to decide which take precedence. Regardless upon vacancy, a special election will have to be held within 60 to 90 days.

While many believe Sarah Palin would appoint herself Senator if she could, it would seem the best strategy would be not do so. She would have to first resign her Governor seat. Then she would have to campaign for election mired by possible "nepotism" charges as well. With approval ratings of 68%, she could still win, but this would probably hurt her, and down the road it might haunt her on the national stage. Even more there is a certain level of hypocrisy within it. It was none-other-than Sarah Palin who beat Frank Murkowski in his re-election bid.

The clearer and better approach would be to appoint a capable, but not senate campaign intentioned replacement for Ted Stevens seat. In a twist of fates, this appointment would be the republican parties nominee for Governor if Sarah were to win. The new nominee would get some national interest exposure and while still Governor, Sarah would bid for the vacancy. This plan would allow her to retain her current position if she lost, and allow for the argument of a smoother transition in the case she won (images of sarah working hand in hand to pass the torch, blah blah blah). And if Alaska is truly happy with the way Sarah has been governing, this could be a win for its people as well.

***As a trivia fact, it was Governor Frank Murkowski, who bought the state jet plane Sarah tried to sell on Ebay when she became governor. ***

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