Sarah Palin was impossible to miss in 2008, when John McCain plucked the little-known Alaska governor onto the national stage. A “force of nature,” she blended folksy confidence with a scrappy underdog appeal—then stepped back into a life that, in recent years, made headlines more for heartbreak than politics.

Born in Sandpoint, Idaho, and raised in Wasilla, Alaska, Palin was a standout at Wasilla High—“life-changing,” she once said of basketball—before meeting her future husband, Todd, at a game. In 1988, the high-school sweethearts eloped at the courthouse, recruiting two witnesses from the retirement home across the street because they couldn’t afford a wedding. They built a big family—Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig—and a life rooted in Alaska’s rough-and-ready rhythm. She reported the news, helped run the family’s commercial fishing business, then leapt into politics, becoming Alaska’s youngest—and first female—governor in 2006.

Todd, the self-styled “First Dude,” kept his head down despite the glare. A champion of the grueling Iron Dog snowmobile race, he juggled oil-field work with parenting as Palin’s career soared. When McCain tapped her for the 2008 ticket, Todd stepped in even more at home, especially as the family weathered public scrutiny—like Bristol’s teenage pregnancy—under an unforgiving national spotlight.

From the outside, their three-decade marriage looked unshakeable. Inside, it was more complicated. In 2019, just after their 31st anniversary, Palin learned via an attorney’s email that Todd was filing for divorce—news she said felt like being “shot.” He cited incompatibility; she wanted to fight for counseling and keep the covenant she believed marriage to be. Their divorce was finalized on March 23, 2020.

The split left scars. Palin has said the shock still stings, and that she and Todd now keep contact minimal, coordinating primarily for their youngest, Trig. Todd has moved on with a partner based in the Lower 48. Palin, too, found unexpected comfort with someone who’d long been a friend: former New York Rangers star Ron Duguay. What began as a favor—showing her around New York—grew into a relationship she describes as “safe and comfortable.” He’s since backed her politically as she re-entered the arena, running for Alaska’s at-large congressional seat.

It’s not easy to rebuild when a marriage ends in the public eye, especially with five children and seven grandchildren watching. But Palin is doing what she’s always done: shouldering forward. From a courtship sealed by two borrowed witnesses to the national ticket and back to the long winters of Wasilla, she’s lived loudly, stumbled publicly, and kept going—now with a new partner at her side, and a familiar fight still in her voice.