Many taken by surprise by Palin

WASILLA, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's announcement that she's stepping down has taken her party, advisers and even her own spokesman by surprise.

Palin scraped together a news conference at her home in Wasilla Friday, saying she had decided against running for re-election and is planning to leave office July 26, a year and a-half before her term ends.

The former vice presidential hopeful says "many just accept that lame duck status" and "kind of milk it." She says she's "not going to put Alaskans through that." The announcement touched off a flurry of perplexed messages between former members of Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign team.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she's "deeply disappointed that the governor has decided to abandon the state and her constituents."

Palin's political action committee says it saw an uptick in contributions Friday afternoon.