WASILLA, Alaska -- Voters have not elected a woman as governor of Alaska in 47 years of statehood, and just a few months ago, before she trounced Gov. Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary, Sarah Palin was hardly known outside this growing suburb of Anchorage.
Now Palin, 42, has a sizable lead in most polls over Tony Knowles, a former Democratic governor who has survived in a conservative state by working closely with the powerful oil industry and cultivating ties across party lines.
Her secret?
"She's a suburban mom," said Dan Newman, the pastor of Wasilla Christian Fellowship, one of several evangelical churches here, and a Palin supporter. "It's almost the opposite of what you'd expect from Alaska."
Palin, the former mayor of Wasilla, stands out in a state that has seen few fresh faces in politics. She is untainted by government scandal and unburdened by political debt. She is a conservative Christian who opposes abortion. She runs marathons. She fishes. She hunts.
"We always have a choice," Palin, who was an infant when her family moved to Alaska so her father could take a job teaching school, said in an interview. "We can go backwards and be real negative, or we can go forward and be positive."
Still, political analysts say Palin is not a lock to win.
Knowles has been able to keep the race competitive, in part by questioning whether Palin has the experience to lead a state where voters measure politicians on issues as wide-ranging as energy exploration, aerial wolf hunting and subsistence fishing in the arctic bush.
Knowles, 63, tries to sell his experience, having served eight years in the governor's office in Juneau, leaving in 2002 because of term limits. He also casts Palin as provincial.
More specifically, Knowles has suggested that Palin lacks the backbone and skills to negotiate with oil companies to build a new natural gas pipeline, something they agree is critical for the state economy as oil production declines on the North Slope. About 85 percent of the state's general revenue comes from taxes on the oil industry, and many people view the new gas pipeline as Alaska's next natural resource boom.
Palin is portraying herself as a needed outside agent of change at a time when the FBI is investigating links between Republican leaders in the legislature and a major player in the oil industry. The tactic worked well in the August primary, with only 19 percent of voters supporting Murkowski's bid for a second term.
