McCain running mate has Tri-City roots

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's new running mate has deep family roots in the Tri-Cities.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's grandparents -- Clem and Helen Sheeran -- came to Richland in 1943 so he could work at Hanford. They had six children, including Palin's mother Sally Heath, who in 1958 graduated from Columbia High School -- now Richland High.

Palin's father -- Chuck Heath -- attended Columbia Basin College in Pasco. The couple eventually settled in Idaho. Palin was born in Sandpoint in 1964.

Palin's late uncle Pat Sheeran was once a District Court judge in the Tri-Cities.

Richland's Katie Johnson, Sally Heath's sister and Palin's aunt, said Palin has visited the Tri-Cities every several years dating back to when she attended the University of Idaho. She graduated from Idaho with a journalism degree in 1987.

"Every spring break Sarah and those kids would always come and see grandma and grandpa," Johnson said. "She's very fond of the Tri-Cities."

Kennewick's Ron Jones, an uncle, said Palin was in town as recently as last July to thank the family for helping her out on her gubernatorial campaign in Alaska. There, she's established herself as a conservative, no-nonsense reformer who has picked battles with her own party, defeating an incumbent Republican governor in the 2006 primary.

"What a wonderful choice for McCain," Jones said. "They're both mavericks."

Johnson described her niece as an avid angler, hunter and marathon runner. She once ran for the title of Miss Alaska and claimed the title of Miss Congeniality in an earlier contest.

The family didn't learn McCain had chosen Palin until reports first began circulating on television early Friday. Her name had been mentioned for the post but the family had no specific inkling she'd be asked to join the ticket.

Johnson, who maintains regular communications with Palin via phone and e-mail, said she didn't know how long Palin has been in McCain's plans.

"Sarah kept it a real secret, that little turkey," Johnson said. "She's been kind of quiet the last couple weeks. I don't know how much she'll be able to talk now."

"We're so excited," said aunt Colleen Jones, Ron's wife. "It was a shock to us."

Johnson said Palin's emergence as McCain's running mate shouldn't be surprising considering her string of successes in private and public life.

"Everything she's ever done she's excelled at," Johnson said.

"Sarah's just a real sharp young lady and doesn't take any guff from anybody," Ron Jones said.