Unity ticket candidate visits Wrangell

Independent candidate for lieutenant governor Byron Mallott stopped in Wrangell for a meet-and-greet with potential voters at the Stikine Native Organization building's dance hall Thursday evening after visiting Petersburg earlier in the week.

The ticket Mallott and Independent candidate for governor Bill Walker share is a unique one in Alaskan politics. Until early last month, Mallott had been the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in a three-way race between Walker and incumbent Gov. Sean Parnell.

"After it became clear in statewide polling that neither Bill Walker nor myself could win in a three-way race, because I had come to respect and to know Bill Walker during the course of our campaigning and we had never said anything negative of one another, I found that our views coincided very closely," Mallott explained.

"What I wanted was to get the endorsement of the Democratic Party to allow me to move over and for the Democratic Party to support me in that move, which I'd got."

The party elected Sept. 1 to reject Mallott as its candidate and instead support him on a unity ticket. He described the move as "an unprecedented action by a major party and a major party candidate."

Mallott said the reason he had first decided to run for governor "was because I just saw so many Alaskans who care about their state being deprived of their voice. Their ability to voice opinions, their views in our state on very important issues."

In particular, he pointed to attempted regulatory changes related to water and land-use permitting, specifically House Bill 77. Voted down by the Alaska Senate last session, the bill was criticized by opponents for effectively placing these under the control of the Department of Natural Resources commissioner while weakening public input on the process.

Other areas Mallott stressed were those of education funding, the state's response to high energy costs, and the budget.

"We're drawing down on our fiscal reserves at an alarming rate. We have to have clearer priorities for our state," he said.

He concluded that "those were the reasons that I decided to run, and they are the reasons that remain as to why we need to change administrations."

"Our administration will be unique in that it will represent neither major party. It will be independent in the truest sense, allowing us to reach out to Alaskans anywhere and everywhere to deal with public policy issues."

Mallott did not believe the ticket's nonpartisan approach would be detrimental to governance. To the contrary, he said that he and Walker's backgrounds demonstrated their ability to reach compromise.

"There are always issues to address, but I've been able to work across party lines. I co-chaired Senator (Lisa) Murkowski's re-election campaign" in 2010, he said. He pointed out that this is not new for the state where more voters are registered as undeclared or nonpartisan than belong to any specific affiliation.

"What it tells us, in addition to wanting change in the governor's office, is that they're also tired of partisan, political bickering. That's not unique. I believe it's a national desire these days. Washington D.C. isn't working because of overly partisan fighting," he said.

Considering that climate, Mallott thought the Nov. 4 election will present the state with a unique opportunity. "I think we can help the rest of the country possibly look to a different way of doing the public business of their state."