Sarah Palin Fast Facts - CNN.com Sarah Palin: Gone rogue (CNN) -- Here's a look at the life of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Personal: Birth date: February 11, 1964 Birth place: Sandpoint, Idaho Birth name: Sarah Louise Heath Father: Charles Heath, a teacher Mother: Sarah (Sheeran) Heath Marriage: Todd Palin (August 29, 1988-present) Children: Trig, April 18, 2008; Piper, March 19, 2001; Willow, July 5, 1994; Bristol, October 18, 1990; Track, April 20, 1989 Education: University of Idaho, B.S., 1987 Other Facts: First female governor of Alaska. Was a runner-up in the 1984 Miss Alaska pageant. Her fifth child, Trig, was born with Down syndrome. Timeline: 1992-1996 - Wasilla city council. 1996-2002 - Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. 2002 - Loses bid to become lieutenant governor. 2003-2004 - Serves on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. November 7, 2006 - Is elected Governor of Alaska, defeating former two-term governor Tony Knowles (49% to 41%). December 4, 2006-July 26, 2009 - Republican Governor of Alaska. July 28, 2008 - Alaska state legislators vote to hire an investigator to determine if Palin fired former state Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan because he would not fire Palin's former brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, a state trooper. August 6, 2008 - A former state employee files an ethics complaint against Palin accusing her of using her position to get a supporter of hers a government position. August 29, 2008 - Named as John McCain's vice presidential running mate in the presidential election. September 1, 2008 - Announces her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is 5 months pregnant, and the McCain campaign releases a statement that John McCain knew about the pregnancy when he selected her as his running mate. September 3, 2008 - Accepts the Republican Party's nomination for vice president at the Republican National Convention. October 10, 2008 - State investigator Stephen Branchflower releases a report saying that Palin abused her power as Alaska's governor and violated state ethics law by trying to get her ex-brother-in-law Mike Wooten fired from the state police. October 18, 2008 - Appears on "Saturday Night Live" with Palin lookalike Tina Fey. November 3, 2008 - Alaska's Personnel Board releases a report concluding that Palin did not violate ethics law when she tried to get ex-brother-in-law Mike Wooten fired from the state police. November 4, 2008 - The McCain-Palin ticket is defeated in the presidential election by the Obama-Biden ticket. January 27, 2009 - Launches a political action committee to raise money. July 3, 2009 - Announces that she will be stepping down as governor of Alaska. July 26, 2009 - Officially steps down as governor of Alaska. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell becomes Governor. November 2009 - Palin's memoir "Going Rogue: An American Life" is released. January 2010 - Joins Fox News as a contributor. February 6, 2010 - Delivers the keynote address at the first national Tea Party convention. March 25, 2010 - Discovery Communications announces Sarah Palin will appear in an eight-part documentary series called, "Sarah Palin's Alaska" on the TLC network. November 2010 - Palin's second book, "America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag," is released. June 10, 2011 - The state of Alaska releases roughly 24,000 pages of emails from Palin's governorship, that had been requested in 2008 under the Freedom of Information Act. October 5, 2011 - Announces she is will not run for president. January 25, 2013 - Fox News confirms that Palin is no longer an analyst there. June 13, 2013 - The Fox News Channel announces that Palin will rejoin the network as a contributor.