Palin's replacement called conservative

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 4 (UPI) -- Sarah Palin's impending replacement as Alaska governor says he's going to continue her conservative, pro-development policies for the state.

"I'm going to try to keep our team in place as best we can," Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who will become governor July 26, told Saturday's Anchorage Daily News. "I think we can have a seamless and stable transition."

Parnell said he will seek his own election in 2010, when Palin's term was to end.

Parnell said his first priority would be to follow through on Palin's efforts to build a natural gas pipeline from the state's North Slope energy field, which he has ardently supported from the beginning. He also said legislators could expect his fiscally conservative philosophy to be expressed through the veto pen.

Parnell is "at least as conservative as Palin," state Republican Party chairman Randy Ruedrich told the Daily News. "He's very conservative, very pro-development."

The lieutenant governor said Parnell told the newspaper he hadn't yet decided if he would spend much of his time in Anchorage, as Palin did, or if he would relocate to Juneau as most previous governors have done.