AK-Gov: Palin Draws a Democratic Challenger

by: James L.

Wed Jan 07, 2009 at 5:43 PM EST

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has drawn her first Democratic challenger in a potential reelection bid in 2010, a hurdle the former vice presidential nominee may need to clear before pursuing national ambitions.

Democrat Bob Poe, the former Alaska State Commissioner of Administration and former CEO of Anchorage Economic Development Corporation, said Wednesday he will announce tomorrow that he intends to seek the Democratic nomination for governor of Alaska.

Poe is viewed as a serious, viable candidate by state Democrats, though there are some other candidates that could derail Poe's bid to unseat Palin. Poe lacks statewide name recognition unlike a candidate such as Ethan Berkowitz, the Democrat who came close to defeating Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) this past November.

It is expected, though, that Poe would run a centrist, pragmatic campaign as an alternative to Palin.

Information on Poe seems pretty scarce on the interwebs, but there's no doubt that he appears to be at least a cut or two above the likes of Frank Vondersaar. While The Hill speculates that Ethan Berkowitz may want to take a swing at Palin, I'd highly doubt that he'd enter an extremely tough race against an even more popular incumbent than the scandal-plagued one whom he recently failed to unseat (Don Young). Of course, if Palin forgoes a re-election campaign (which could happen for any number of reasons), all bets are off. But if she stays in the race, Poe may have the Democratic nod to himself.