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.
_Anchorage Daily News
