DENVER — Speculation about who John McCain would name as his running mate focused on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin after reports circulated early Friday that two short-listers — Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty — were out out of the running.
Adding fuel to the Palin possibility was a report that a charter aircraft from Anchorage had arrived in Dayton, Ohio, where McCain has scheduled a noon ET rally to announce his choice.
Palin is considered a rising star in the Republican Party. She is the state’s first female governor, the mother of five — and at 44 is its youngest chief executive.
FOX News confirmed Thursday that McCain had made his selection. McCain was scheduled to appear with his choice at a noon rally in Dayton, Ohio on Friday.
Sources told FOX News that Romney will not be McCain’s choice, even though Romney is scheduled to appear at the Dayton rally.
And Pawlenty told a Minneapolis radio station that he was not going to be in Dayton for the McCain announcement.
“I’m going to be at the [Minnesota] state fair,” Pawlenty said on WCCO.
“I will not be in Dayton, Ohio, so I think that’s a fair assumption,” when asked if this was an indication that he would not be McCain’s running mate.
“It was an honor to be considered,” he added.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who like Romney was a former primary season rival to McCain, sent an e-mail to supporters on Thursday evening saying he will not be at the rally.
Born in Idaho, Palin moved to Alaska when she was three months old with her parents.
She grew up in Wasilla, just outside of Anchorage, and played on the Wasilla state championship girls basketball team. She was crowned Miss Wasilla in 1984, and was a runnerup in the Miss Alaska pageant.
She studied journalism and political science at the University of Idaho and graduated in 1987. After graduation, she eloped with her high school boyfriend in 1988 to save money on an expensive wedding. She helped out in her husband’s family commercial fishing business and appeared occasionally as a television sportscaster.
Palin won a seat on the Wasilla City Council in 1992 as a new face, new voice and by opposing tax increases. Four years later she was elected mayor at 32 by knocking off a three-term incumbent. At the end of her second term, party leaders encouraged her to enter the 2002 race for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Against veteran legislators with far more experience, Palin finished second by fewer than 2,000 votes, making a name for herself in statewide politics. She was elected Alaskas youngest and first woman governor in 2006.
FOX News’ Carl Cameron and the Almanac of American Politics contributed to this report.
