The period of major political transition in Alaska that started with the fall of the House of Stevens will continue into 2010. Gov. Sarah Palin is no longer a factor in Alaska politics as she capitalizes on her charisma in the world of independent celebrity. For all the criticism of her foreshortened administration, she left two valuable legacies.

First, she reasserted and reestablished through legislation the state's right to get a "fair share" of oil and gas revenue (informally pegged historically at one third including royalty and tax) by amending the tax code and by flexing muscle on the North Slope Point Thomson leases. Second, she rightfully established the construction of a gas pipeline through Canada to U.S. markets as the state's top priority.

The vulnerability of Rep. Don Young, well past his three score and 10, was revealed by his close survival in the Republican primary to now-Gov. Sean Parnell. But his handy win in the general election reminds us he is still a force to be reckoned with even if a public accounting of the matters underlying an FBI investigation will sometime come due.