Bill Walker (American politician)

The Honorable Bill Walker
Governor of Alaska
Incumbent
Assumed office December 1, 2014
Lieutenant	Byron Mallott
Preceded by	Sean Parnell
Mayor of Valdez
In office 1979–1980
Preceded by	Mac MacDonald
Succeeded by	Stephen McAlpine[1]
Personal details
Born	(1951-04-16) April 16, 1951 Fairbanks, Territory of Alaska, U.S.
Political party	Independent (2014–present)
Other political affiliations	Republican (Before 2014)
Spouse(s)	Donna Walker
Children	4
Residence	Governor's Mansion
Alma mater	Lewis and Clark College University of Puget Sound
Religion	Christianity
Website	Official website

William M. "Bill" Walker (born April 16, 1951) is an American attorney and politician who is the 11th and current Governor of Alaska. He is the second native-born governor of Alaska after William A. Egan (1959–1966 and 1970–1974).

Born in Fairbanks, Alaska to Frances (Park) and businessman Ed Walker, Walker was raised in Delta Junction and Valdez, Alaska. He obtained a law degree and served as mayor, city councilor, and city attorney for Valdez, and as general counsel for the Alaska Gasline Port Authority. Walker ran for Governor of Alaska in the Republican Party primary election in 2010, losing to incumbent Sean Parnell.

Walker ran as an Independent in the 2014 election, merging his campaign with that of Democratic nominee Byron Mallott, who became Walker's running mate. Both candidates' prior respective running mates withdrew from the race and the Walker/Mallott ticket defeated Parnell and his running mate, former Anchorage mayor Daniel A. Sullivan.

Early life and career

Walker was born in Fairbanks, Alaska and raised in the small, rural, interior city of Delta Junction and the port of Valdez on Prince William Sound.^[2] He was the fourth child of Alaskan pioneers Ed and Frances Walker. During World War II, Ed was an Alaskan Scout with Castner's Cutthroats in the Aleutian Islands and Frances worked on the Alaska-Canadian Highway. During the 1964 Alaska earthquake which severely damaged Valdez, the family lost most of their personal and business possessions.^[3][2] At the age of 12, Walker became a janitor to help his family.^[2] Walker worked in his family's construction business as a carpenter, laborer, and teamster on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which helped him pay for his education.^[4]

Walker graduated from Valdez High School in 1969, received his B.S. in Business Management from Lewis & Clark College in 1973, and his J.D. from the University of Puget Sound School of Law (now Seattle University School of Law) in 1983.^[5] He and his wife owned a law firm that focused on municipal and oil and gas law. In 1977–1979 he served in the Valdez city council,^[6] as city attorney for Valdez,^[3] and as general counsel for the Alaska Gasoline Port Authority.^[7][8] He later was elected as mayor of Valdez, Alaska from 1979 through 1980, becoming Valdez's youngest mayor at 27.^[9][2]

Governor of Alaska

2010 election

Walker challenged incumbent Governor Sean Parnell as well as Gerald L. Heikes, Merica Hlatcu, Sam Little, and Ralph Samuels in the Republican Party primary election on August 24, 2010. Walker finished second, with 33.95% of the vote, while Parnell won the nomination with 49.49%.^[9][10] The general election was held on November 2, 2010 and Parnell defeated his Democratic opponent, Ethan Berkowitz.

2014 election

In 2013, Walker announced his intention to run in the 2014 gubernatorial election as a Republican.^[11] Later that year, he decided to run as an nonpartisan candidate, taking the advice and encouragement he had received from former Alaska governor Wally Hickel prior to his 2010 campaign.^[5][12]

Walker selected Craig Fleener, a former Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, to run for Lieutenant Governor on his ticket.^[13] He campaigned on a centrist platform, mixing traditionally conservative and liberal positions. Walker opposes the construction of the Pebble Mine and acknowledged the existence of climate change and the need to adopt energy policies to help mitigate its harmful effects, but supports increasing oil and gas pipeline capacities and new drilling for petroleum in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He supports gun rights and a degree of state sovereignty for Alaska. He supported the Medicaid expansion made possible by the Affordable Care Act.^[14]

On September 2, 2014, Walker held a press conference with Byron Mallott, the Democratic Party nominee for governor, announcing that they would merge their campaigns, with Mallott replacing Fleener as his running mate.^[15] Mallott's Democratic running mate for Lt. Governor, attorney and State Senator Hollis French also stepped aside, leaving no official Democratic party candidate in the general election. Prior to their announcement the merger was met with resistance from the Alaska Republican Party, but was ruled as a valid action by the Alaska Supreme Court.^[16]

Walker led in polls taken weeks before the November 4, 2014 general election.^[17] Parnell was widely criticized for his support of billions in unpopular tax reductions for the petrochemical industry and the development of a scandal featuring five years of alleged cover ups with regard to rampant sexual abuse, cronyism, corruption and whistleblower suppression in the Alaska National Guard, for which Parnell served as Commander in Chief.^[18][19][20] Following Election Day, the race was considered too close to call. On November 7, Walker and Mallott held a 3,165-vote lead.^{[21][22][23][24][25]} On November 14, after Walker and Mallott extended their lead to 4,634 votes,^[26] media outlets called the race.^[27][28] Two days later, Parnell conceded.

Tenure

Walker took the oath of office on December 1, 2014. He faces a Republican-controlled legislature, but the Republican majorities are not enough to override a gubernatorial veto. With the Republican legislature opposed to Walker's attempts to expand Medicaid, Walker decided to use his executive authority to do so.^[29]

As governor, Walker has attended many events across Alaska, such as the Annual Governor's Picnic which took place in Fairbanks at Pioneer Park on Sunday, June 7, 2015, in Anchorage at Delaney Park Strip on Saturday, August 1, 2015, and in Juneau at the University of Alaska Southeast on Friday, August 14, 2015. He also flew into Sitka after seven landslides devastated the town, causing extensive damage and killing three. He was able to secure $1 million to help in the recovery.^[4]

On November 5, 2015, Walker signed the buyout bill for TransCanada's quarter share in the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (AKLNG) project. Alaska's share of the project will cost the state $12 to $18 billion to construct in return for the one-quarter share for what it produces, which estimates that the state will make $1 to $1.2 billion per year when gas starts flowing. The project is expected to open up around 10,000 construction jobs if work begins in the 2020s as is planned.^[30]

Due to the low oil prices in 2015, however, Alaska anticipated a $4 billion annual deficit. Budget cuts and raised taxes have been proposed to help support reconciling this gap. Governor Walker hoped to release his budget for fiscal year 2016, by December 15, 2015.^{[31][32][33][34]} In December 2015, Walker proposed reinstating a statewide income tax as well as reducing annual payments to qualified state residents from the Alaska Permanent Fund as a means of filling a $3.2 billion gap in the state's budget.^[35]

Personal life

Before becoming governor and moving to Juneau, Walker resided with his wife Donna in Anchorage, Alaska. The couple has four children and four grandchildren.^[11] He enjoys fishing, downhill skiing, snow-machining, boating, camping, and taking his grandchildren ice skating.^[4]

In November 2016, Walker announced that he had developed prostate cancer, for which he will have routine, out-patient surgery the following month.^[36]

Electoral history

References

External links

• Official website
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Bill Walker on Facebook

Governors of Alaska
District (1884–1912)	Kinkead Swineford Knapp Sheakley Brady Hoggatt Clark
Territorial (1912–59)	Clark Strong Riggs Bone Parks Troy Gruening Heintzleman Hendrickson (acting) Stepovich Hendrickson (acting)
State (since 1959)	Egan Hickel Miller Egan Hammond Sheffield Cowper Hickel Knowles Murkowski Palin Parnell Walker

Current statewide political officials of Alaska
U.S. Senators	Lisa Murkowski (R) Dan Sullivan (R)
U.S. Representative	Don Young (R), At-large
State government	Bill Walker (I), Governor Byron Mallott (D), Lieutenant Governor Jahna Lindemuth (I), Attorney General
State Senate	Kevin Meyer (R), President John Coghill (R), Majority Leader Berta Gardner (D), Minority Leader
State House	Mike Chenault (R), Speaker Charisse Millett (R), Majority Leader Chris Tuck (D), Minority Leader
Supreme Court	Craig Stowers, Chief Justice Joel Bolger Dana Fabe Peter Maassen Daniel Winfree, Associate Justices