The Alaska Republican Party on Thursday voted to condemn former Gov. Bill Walker, who is running for governor as a non-party candidate. The vote recognized that Walker inappropriately made deals with communist China, when he signed agreements with the president of China Xi Jinping, and with Chinese government-owned companies to finance and build an Alaska gasline from the North Slope for the purpose of selling gas to China.
The condemnation of Walker was voted overwhelmingly by the party leadership, with only perhaps three people not voting for the resolution. Walker, who was once a Republican, dropped his Republican membership and formed up a hybrid government in 2014 with the late Byron Mallott, who was a Democrat.
The resolution notes that the people of Alaska would have been harmed monetarily and that the Alaska Permanent Fund would have been put at risk if Walker had remained in office. Walker spent millions of dollars chasing the financial and construction arrangement with China, traveling to China and signing agreements on behalf of Alaska.
The vote was among a number of resolutions passed by the State Central Committee. Among them were an endorsement of Nick Begich for Congress and sanctioning Rep. Kelly Merrick, disallowing her from being able to be a voting delegate because of her fraternizing with Democrats in exchange for a position leading the House Finance Committee. Merrick is part of the Democrat-controlled House caucus.
The party’s State Central Committee met in advance of the Alaska Republican Party’s biennial convention.
