Gov. Bill Walker drops out of campaign for Alaska governor

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska Gov. Bill Walker announced Friday he is dropping his bid for re-election and endorsing Democrat Mark Begich against Republican Mike Dunleavy.

Walker, elected as an independent, made the announcement Friday afternoon at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention, three days after former Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott stepped down from both his office and the re-election campaign over unspecified “inappropriate comments” he made to a woman.

“Every decision I have made as your governor, I have made on the basis of what I believe is best for Alaska,” Walker told the crowd. “With that said, effective today, I am suspending my campaign for re-election as governor.” There were gasps from the audience.

Walker said that with only 18 days until the election, he had been talking to “many, many, many Alaskans” about which candidate had a better chance of prevailing against Dunleavy.

Walker’s announcement came at the start of a scheduled candidate forum at the AFN convention, at the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage.

Dunleavy watched the speech intently, leaned forward, showing no emotion. He stood during standing ovation when Walker introduced his wife, first lady Donna Walker. He remained seated at end of the speech as the crowd gave Walker an ovation.

Dunleavy told the Anchorage Daily News he will still win the election.

“That’s the goal. That’s the plan,” he said. “I’m still trying to take all this in. This is news to me.”

Walker, a Republican-turned-independent, was elected in 2014 on a so-called unity ticket with Mallott, a Democrat, and defeated incumbent Republican Sean Parnell.

Walker entered office facing low oil prices and multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls. Some voters never forgave him for pushing for an income tax – Alaska has no state tax – and pushing a spending plan that led to smaller annual Permanent Fund dividend checks.

The general election is Nov. 6. Early voting starts Monday. The Walker-Mallott ticket will remain on the ballots.

Ballots for the Nov. 6 election have already been printed. The Alaska Division of Elections has already sent out more than 22,000 ballots, and Alaskans have voted and returned nearly 1,200 of them, according to the division.

Samantha Miller, division spokeswoman, said she did not yet have information Friday about how Walker dropping his bid for re-election will impact the election, including what it means for Alaskans who may have already sent in their absentee ballots and voted for Walker.

“We’re still processing through everything and we’ll have more information available on Monday,” she said.

In his speech, Walker talked up Begich as being the better in sync with him than Dunleavy.

“On balance, it is my belief that despite my many differences with Mark Begich, his stance on important issues that I have listed are more closely aligned with my priorities for Alaska,” Walker said, citing his support of Medicaid expansion, pursuit of an Alaska natural gas pipeline project and state spending on rural Alaska and education.

“It is the honor of my life to have served as the governor of this great state,” he said.

Walker staff members standing along a wall off the stage were grouped together and some had tears as he spoke.

After his announcement, Walker stepped off the stage and embraced several people in the audience, along with family members. He was invited back on stage where he was praised by a series of speakers.

“I’ve never seen such a selfless, courageous action by a sitting politician,” Will Mayo, Alaska Federation of Natives board co-chair, said to the crowd. “This is a historical moment folks.”

News media followed Walker out of the ballroom after his speech, into a busy Dena’ina Center hallway.

Conversations he has had with Begich had “something to do with” his decision to bow out of the race, Walker said.

“Because I wanted to know where he stood on certain issues,” Walker said. “I wouldn’t have done it just on my own without some discussions.”

He and Begich talked this week about the pros and cons of a three-way race versus a two-way race, Walker said. When asked if Begich promised him anything, Walker said no.

“No, there was no deal or such, anything like that,” Walker said. He also said there have been “no discussions” of him having a place in a Begich administration.

Walker hadn’t been considering withdrawing from the race for very long, he said.

“Really no decision was made, really, quite honestly until last night,” he said.

“I look at polls, I look at a lot of things. Some of the things we have to overcome – it was, I think it was a lot of things,” he said.

After Walker’s announcement, U.S. Rep. Don Young and his Democrat challenger, Alyse Galvin, debated.

Then Begich and Dunleavy faced off in their first one-on-one debate.