Alaska Politics Blog : Parnell: "I stand by Gene and my decison to hire him."

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Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He's worked for the ADN in Anchorage and Juneau, covered the legislature for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and covered Washington state politics for the Tacoma News Tribune. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers rural affairs, general assignments and politics for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously wrote for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com and also find him on our rural Alaska blog, The Village.

David Hulen

David Hulen, the ADN's state and local news editor, is responsible for political coverage. He has been an editor and reporter at the ADN for more than 20 years. E-mail David at dhulen@adn.com

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Alaska political corruption

When the FBI raided state legislature offices in Aug. 2006, it publicly launched an investigation that ultimately reached the highest levels of Alaska politics, and continues to this day.

Parnell: "I stand by Gene and my decison to hire him."

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Anchorage Daily News

Posted: July 29, 2010 - 10:26 am

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage –

Gov. Sean Parnell is standing behind his decision to hire state Sen Gene Therriault, despite the legal issues surrounding the hire and uproar that led to Therriault's resignation.

Therriault wrote to Parnell this morning that he was resigning the $110,000-a-year-job as energy adviser because of the “political turmoil that has been generated by your detractors.”

Click here to read Therriault’s full resignation letter.

Parnell put out this statement today on Therriault's resignation:

“Gene Therriault has served Alaska with a considerate and professional hand, and he has been a valuable member of my staff. While I stand by Gene and my decision to hire him, I understand his reasons for resigning and wish him well in his future endeavors. I am committed to continuing the progress Gene helped us make on developing Alaska’s energy resources.”.