Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott will run for re-election together.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have both decided that we will run again,\u201d Mallott told KINY-AM\u2019s Pete Carran<\/a> in a Wednesday morning interview.<\/p>\n Mallott went on to say that \u201cyou never say that in an absolute term because we have no idea what will occur,\u201d but when Carran pressed whether Mallott and Walker have made up their minds to run again, Mallott responded, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n Lindsay Hobson, a spokeswoman for the Walker-Mallott campaign, said no official announcement has been made.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not commenting at this time,\u201d she said when asked for an official statment beginning the campaign.<\/p>\n Neither Mallott nor Walker had filed official paperwork with the Alaska Division of Elections or Alaska Public Offices Commission by press time Thursday, but Mallott\u2019s interview follows a similar one by Walker with the Associated <\/a>Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n Speaking to AP reporter Becky Bohrer, Walker said, \u201cI\u2019m sure I\u2019ll run again.\u201d<\/p>\n A Mallott staffer was unable to speak on the record but confirmed that the pair are running for re-election.<\/p>\n In a Tuesday interview<\/a> on the Alaska Public Radio Network show \u201cTalk of Alaska,\u201d Walker said he hasn\u2019t set a date for when he will announce his decision officially.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have a specific date or timeline of when that is going to take place. I think it\u2019ll certainly be this summer sometime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He added that he doesn\u2019t want the announcement to interfere with the day-to-day running of the state.<\/p>\n Mallott added, \u201cI just love this job because I have the opportunity to work with Governor Walker, and where he goes, I will go.\u201d<\/p>\n With one year to go before the statewide primary, the governor\u2019s race is wide open. Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla, is the only candidate with significant state-level experience. Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, has applied to run for lieutenant <\/a>governor<\/a>.<\/p>\n On the Democratic side, Michael Sheldon of Petersburg and Jacob Kern of Anchorage have filed to run for governor. Kern has run three times for Anchorage mayor, each time earning less than 1 percent of the vote.<\/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 Most 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 Stevens, in announcing his run for lieutenant governor, said Alaskans should expect candidates to reveal their intentions in the next few months.<\/p>\n