Alaska now has a comprehensible line of succession again, after lawmakers met in special session to confirm Craig Campbell as the state’s new lieutenant governor.
Thus ends a period of uncertainty that began with former Gov. Sarah Palin’s resignation.
When Palin resigned, she announced that Campbell, head of the Alaska National Guard, would become lieutenant governor, even though she had earlier in the year designated the corrections commissioner, Joe Schmidt, as next in line for the job.
When Sean Parnell was sworn in as governor July 26, Campbell was sworn in at the same event as “temporary substitute lieutenant governor.”
It all became official Monday, when state lawmakers met in Anchorage and confirmed Campbell in the job on a permanent basis.
Judge Charles Huguelet administered the oath of office to Campbell immediately following the vote.
