Former Gov. Bill Walker, whose administration melted down in scandal in 2018, wants a do-over. He filed this morning to run for governor.
Walker withdrew from running in 2018 in the final days leading up to the General Election. He ran as undeclared with any party. His lieutenant governor, now-deceased Byron Mallott, had resigned in a sexual harassment scandal. This time, he has picked up Heidi Drygas, former commissioner of the Department of Labor under his administration and a hardline leftist, as his running mate.
Walker’s filing was not unexpected, nor was his choice of Drygas. He has been making the rounds across the state with his former chief of staff Scott Kendall, who is a chief adviser and legal counsel to the Recall Dunleavy Committee, which failed to get enough signatures on a petition to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
Both are registered nonpartisans. The new jungle primary and ranked choice voting, a system designed and promoted by Kendall and approved by voters under Ballot Measure 2, makes it easier for candidates without parties to advance to the final round of general election voting.
The last time Walker ran, he ran as the candidate approved by the Alaska Democratic Party. The party has not issued a statement about whether he will be their candidate again.
Walker was still on the ballot in 2018, and got 2 percent of the vote. Tuckerman Babcock, who was chair of the Alaska Republican Party that year, predicts Walker will double that vote this year. “That’s about all he’s going to get,” he said.
Walker also tried to make deals with China to take over financing and construction of a gasline from the North Slope to Nikiski. He signed the get-our-of-jail Senate Bill 91, which led to a major crime spree across Alaska, which ended when Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed legislation correcting the catch-and-release laws.
