On Monday, August 21, 2017, Bill Walker and Byron Mallott filed for reelection at the Division of Elections in Juneau, Alaska for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor, respectively. The incumbents once again filed as non-partisan candidates, commonly referred to as “independent”. A lifelong Republican, Walker changed his affiliation to non-partisan in 2014. Mallott will maintain his affiliation as a Democrat. Their administration is currently the only independent administration in the United States.
Bill Walker and Byron Mallott are lifelong Alaskans born into the Territory of Alaska. Each served as mayors of their communities as young leaders in their twenties. Walker worked as a carpenter, teamster and laborer during the construction of the TransAlaska Pipeline. He was a businessman and oil and gas and municipal attorney prior to becoming governor.
Walker said of seeking reelection: “Serving as governor for the people and state I love has been the honor of a lifetime. This is a job that requires the kind of hard work and tough decision making I have always faced. Byron Mallott and I have refused to put off the difficult decisions because doing so would jeopardize future generations. We believe that independent leadership that relentlessly puts Alaska’s priorities first is critical to finishing the work we have started to stabilize and build Alaska.”
Byron Mallott has worked for or with almost every governor since Statehood. He has served as the Executive Director of the Alaska Permanent Fund and as the President of the Alaska Federation of Natives.
“The prosperity of our people and our state depends on putting the needs of Alaska above personal aspirations, and politically comfortable decisions,” Mallott noted. “This is how Governor Walker and I have led the state. Alaska’s path to a strong future hangs on the decisions made in the next four years.”
In order to appear on the November 2018 general election ballot, each candidate will gather 3,213 signatures. The candidates will run separate campaigns until the collected signatures are submitted on August 21, 2018 – the date of the primary election. As separate candidates, they can participate in shared campaign activities so long as each candidate shares an equal cost of the activity and files a shared campaign activity form with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. [xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]
