AP File photo

First-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin talks in her office in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday Aug. 14, 2008.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is a self-styled "hockey mom" - but she's also known as a Republican iconoclast who's battled against the state GOP establishment.

It started in 2004, when Palin was chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Palin exposed Alaska Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich for ethical violations when he was a commissioner.

Then in 2005, Palin teamed up with Eric Croft, a Democratic legislator and gubernatorial candidate, to file an ethics complaint against Governor Frank Murkowski's longtime aide and then attorney general, Gregg Renkes, who ended up resigning.

During her gubernatorial campaign in 2006, Palin cast herself as a Republican maverick.

Palin was born in 1964. She graduated from the University of Idaho in 1987 with a degree in journalism. She's worked as a sports reporter for two Anchorage TV stations and has been a businesswoman.

Palin served as chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, two terms as mayor of Wasilla and two terms on the city council.

Palin is married, with five children.