{"id":19463,"date":"2017-08-21T20:15:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T03:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/walker-mallott-file-for-re-election\/"},"modified":"2017-08-21T20:15:00","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T03:15:00","slug":"walker-mallott-file-for-re-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/walker-mallott-file-for-re-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Walker, Mallott file for re-election"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott will attempt to repeat the “unity ticket” in a second term.<\/p>\n

On Monday morning, both men filed documents at the headquarters of the Alaska Division of Elections indicating their intent to run for re-election in 2018. They intend to skip the statewide primary and run as independents in the Nov. 6, 2018 general election.<\/p>\n

“Our administration has been an independent one and will continue to be one,” Mallott told reporters after turning in his paperwork.<\/p>\n

“We just think Alaska does better with a nonpartisan administration,” Walker said. “As I’ve said before, no party has a monopoly on the best ideas.”<\/p>\n

As a nonpartisan administration, Walker said the state can “draw upon any (of those ideas) without any hesitation.”<\/p>\n

In 2014, Mallott and Walker defeated incumbent Gov. Sean Parnell by 2.3 percentage points<\/a> after Mallott withdrew his name as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in order to become Walker’s running mate<\/a>. Earlier this month, Mallott foreshadowed Monday’s filing when he confirmed that the pair would run for re-election<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Competition to come<\/span><\/p>\n

The field of gubernatorial competitors remains thin so far, but that’s likely to change.<\/p>\n

“I think there will be a lively race,” Walker said. “Lots of competition.”<\/p>\n

Republican state Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla, has formally applied to run for governor from that party, as has Michael Sheldon of Petersburg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sheldon ran as a write-in candidate against Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, in a 2016 race for Alaska Senate. He received less than 4 percent of the vote.<\/p>\n

One Democrat, Jacob Kern of Anchorage, has filed a letter of intent<\/a> with the Alaska Public Offices Commission but not with the Division of Elections. Kern has run three times for Anchorage mayor, each time earning less than 1 percent of the vote.<\/p>\n

Walker said Monday that the timing of his filing — more than a year before the general election — was about “finding the appropriate time to step away and get this done and get back to work.”<\/p>\n

He said it removes uncertainty about what he and his lieutenant governor might or might not do in the election.<\/p>\n

Many candidates for statewide office announce their intentions in the year preceding election. Alaska law places limits on the amount of money an individual or group can donate to a particular candidate. Those limits are based on annual limits, so any candidate who registers in 2017 can receive donations to the limit in 2017 and 2018.<\/p>\n

“I believe we’ll have a full slate: Independent, Republican, Democrat,” said House Minority Leader Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage. “I would anticipate maybe even more than one independent ticket.”<\/p>\n

Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage and a member of the House’s coalition majority, said he’s “not thrilled with the rumors that I’ve heard of more candidates.”<\/p>\n

“The more people from more parties who jump in, the more it favors the Republicans,” he said.<\/p>\n

What polls say<\/span><\/p>\n

Polling indicates a challenger could find support among voters.<\/p>\n

In a poll conducted between June 26 and July 3, Ivan Moore’s Alaska Survey Research<\/a> found 38 percent of Alaskans have a positive view of the governor and 37 percent have a negative view. Thirteen percent were neutral, and another 13 percent didn’t know who the governor was.<\/p>\n

On Facebook, Moore called those “tough numbers for re-election, particularly when you’re likely to have credible opponents running on the Republican and Democrat tickets.”<\/p>\n

Moore’s figures were partially confirmed in April when a Morning Consult poll<\/a> found 53 percent of Alaskans disapproved of Walker and 43 percent approved, with a 6 percent margin of error. That was the fifth-highest disapproval rating among all 50 governors nationally.<\/p>\n

According to polls, Alaskans’ view of Walker has dipped significantly since he vetoed a portion of the 2016 Permanent Fund Dividend after the Alaska Legislature failed to address the state’s deficit that year.<\/p>\n

As late as June 2016, Alaska Survey Research polls gave Walker a 43 percent approval rating and only a 23 percent disapproval rating. By September 2016, the disapproval rating had climbed to 35 percent, above a 32 percent approval rating.<\/p>\n

On fiscal issues<\/span><\/p>\n

Walker and Mallott each said resolving the state’s multibillion-dollar deficit is still atop their priority list. Gara and Millett said Walker’s re-election bid shouldn’t affect how the Legislature views him in the coming session.<\/p>\n

“I don’t care whether he runs or not,” Gara said, adding that the deficit will remain regardless.<\/p>\n

“He’s a moderate Republican. I think he’s honest. I don’t agree with him on everything, but I do agree with him that we need to solve the budget crisis that’s going to send the state into a deep recession,” Gara said.<\/p>\n

Millett said she doesn’t think Walker’s re-election try will have “a broad effect on the Legislature,” but she thinks it will be interesting to watch whether Walker changes course on budget-fixing ideas he has previously endorsed, such as an income tax.<\/p>\n

“I think it’ll be interesting to see how Gov. Walker positions himself on a very unpopular income tax,” she said.<\/p>\n

With more than a year to go before the election, she cautioned that it’s too early to guess who will win and what will happen.<\/p>\n

“I just think Alaska politics is always unpredictable, and once you think you know what’s happening, something arises,” she said.<\/p>\n

The primary election is Aug. 21, 2018, and the general election is Nov. 6, 2018.<\/p>\n


\n

• Contact reporter James Brooks at james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com or call 523-2258.<\/b><\/p>\n


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