By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
It’s not a “bro-mance” per se, but the relationship between Gov. Bill Walker, 67, and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, 75, is akin to best friends who do everything together, including run the state office.
Both were born and raised in small Alaska communities and both were mayors: Walker in Valdez at age 27, and Mallott in Yakutat at 22. They’re as close to old-school governors as is possible in a political age where suits and ties replace old-time suspenders and wool pants.
During their visit to Sitka last week they took time out from campaigning for an interview with the Sentinel touching on the personal side of how they govern.
Gov. Bill Walker, left, and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott share a stage in Juneau. (Sentinel Photo by Klas Stolpe)
“We hug every day,” Walker said, nodding to Mallott and placing a hand on his shoulder. “It is pretty rare we don’t see each other.”
If the two don’t see each other: “I do not send him a hug meme,” Mallott said, laughing. “But we do text.”
Walker said Mallott is wise and has a sense of humor with perfect timing.
“Byron brings, not only because he has had some type of working relationship with every governor from statehood all the way through, but that wisdom of understanding of how we kind of got where we are and the vision of where we need to go,” Walker said.
Walker and wife, Donna, have four children and five grandchildren. Mallott and wife, Toni, have five children, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Both have sacrificed family time to serve, including missing birthdays.
“Our spouses have been able to travel some with us, but time away is the tough part,” Walker said.
They work at trying to solve problems, whether it’s a big issue like the Pacific Salmon Treaty or something as small as getting the name correct on a photo.
In Fort Yukon, a man mentioned that one photo in the Anchorage airport, of the first ascent of Denali, had all the names except for the two Alaska Native boys. The man asked who to give the names to.
“Me,” Walker said. He sent an official email out to find the person who could post the names. That person did. Now they’re contacting the man in Fort Yukon to tell him.
“I think that’s what people in public service do,” Walker said. “I love that part of it, to make that kind of a connection.”
Both Walker and Mallott admire William Egan, the state’s first governor, who served from 1959-1966 and then 1970-1974. Egan and Walker are the only Alaska governors born in the state.
“Personally, I knew Governor Egan well, being from Valdez,” Walker said. “He would come back occasionally.”
Egan’s brother Clinton “Truck” Egan owned the Pinzon Bar, a hub of social and political activity from the late 1950s until it was closed following the 1964 Good Friday earthquake.
“I remember one time he was giving a speech in Valdez in the middle of July,” Walker said. “A hot day, in the Eagle’s Hall (a quasi theater of the day) and one of the color guard passed out and fell forward and he didn’t miss a line, he just kept right on. We have had a lot of great governors and he was sure one.”
Mallott was 22 when hired by Egan.
“He was a hard worker,” Mallott said. “As far as having a special view and nature of Alaska and the place that it is I liked Jay Hammond. Yes, he took a beating in his first term with his environmental issues, fish and game issues, but he dealt with the creation of the Permanent Fund and dividend. He was a far-seeing governor.”
The Alaska Marine Highway System is important to both men and was part of their youth sport travels.
“I enjoyed whenever we traveled to Cordova on the Bartlett or the Chilkat, and we would stay in people’s homes,” Walker said. “They wouldn’t put you in the gym, they put you in people’s homes… I think that should be required. I developed friendships that are there today in those communities, not that we treated them any differently on the basketball court, but at the end of the day we went to their house. And when they came to Valdez they stayed in our homes. It just built some depth of relationships that we wouldn’t otherwise have.”
They have tried to visit as many locations near Alaska’s 237 airports as they can.
“When I go to a place I haven’t been before, what I enjoy is they will say we have never had a governor here,” Walker said. “I always apologize because I am the first one they have seen and there are probably a lot better out there as far as the visual goes.”
Mallott, a licensed pilot, enjoys being a passenger, too, especially having a window seat.
“I have over 2 million Alaska Airlines miles. I still love pressing my nose to the window and seeing what’s out there ... . It’s always something that makes every bit of travel different from the last.”
They recalled signing a bill in Nondalton. About 200 people live there, and 200 people showed up with jams, jellies and salmon. Walker said they were thanked for tough decisions they had made.
But he said Alaskans also aren’t bashful about sharing their concerns and are not intimidated by the office of governor.
“It might be a little bit unique because sometimes I will interact with people and they will have a relative or a visiting guest from Outside who would go, ‘Wow, we would never have that interaction with the governor of our state.’ I think all governors in Alaska have done that, and lieutenant governors. We just move about the state like anybody else.”
They said that work remains. Walker likens steps that he and the Legislature took to address the state’s budget deficit to patching a fishing boat. Lawmakers approved use of earnings from the Alaska Permanent Fund to fill much of the deficit.
“It’s kind of like once you have fixed the hole in the boat, the commercial fishing boat, now you can go fishing,” Walker said.
Walker sees potential for a gas pipeline project he has promoted for years, along with oyster farming and kelp, tourism, resource development and direct flights to Asia bringing tourists in and returning with seafood for markets there.
He’s excited that in Asia, where Norwegian salmon caught seven days earlier are regarded as fresh, Alaska salmon can be delivered within six hours.
“We can have it there within 18 hours of being caught,” He said. “Making use of the largest cargo hub in the United States, and fifth largest in the world, with direct flights with king crab and salmon. I think our location has always been our biggest asset.”
Mallott patted the governor’s knee.
“I never forget for a moment who is governor. He is a lawyer so he tends to get down into the weeds a little bit more than I would like and then I tell him ‘Governor, it’s not about billable hours anymore.’ We have fun, but ultimately we both share an outlook from our experience of growing up and being born in the state, of the kind of Alaska we should have and that is one Alaska, but one Alaska that celebrates the differences amongst us that makes us rich in terms of who we are, the kinds of peoples we are. We have a sense of shared destiny. It’s innate in me and I know it’s innate in him.”
The two agreed the past four years have passed quickly.
“Holy cow, Governor, we were just sworn in,” Mallott said. “And now we have been sworn at for a number of years. It has gone so fast that really there hasn’t been time to become tired.”
He said the independent ticket was important. Walker was a Republican before teaming up with Mallott, a Democrat, for their successful 2014 run for governor and lieutenant governor.
“The times in our policy and working discussions we have used the words ‘Democrat’ and ‘Republican’ in four years, you can count on both hands ... that excludes the Legislature, of course,” he said, adding: “Coming together has given us a very firm base that allows us to look ahead, to be independent, to not have to think about someone else’s philosophy, ideology, program, or stuff that they have done.”
Walker agreed.
“I honestly don’t think there was a governor or lieutenant governor in the history of our state that has the genuine relationship respect that we have for one another,” he said. “We are on each other’s meetings all the time, there is no ‘my schedule, your schedule.’ The doors are open all the time.”
An aide motioned to his watch. The duo had a flight to catch.
“We were not an arranged marriage,” Walker said. “We picked each other, and that’s unique in Alaska politics.”
Said Mallott, “I think we are very comfortable with one another so we have the ability to be frank and to obviously spend a lot of time together. ... I have never heard him raise his voice, and he has heard me raise mine from time to time, but he is always the adult in the room.”
Challenging Walker in the Nov. 6 general election are Republican Mike Dunleavy, Democrat Mark Begich and Libertarian Billy Toien. Lieutenant governor candidates are Republican Kevin Meyer, Democrat Debra Call and Libertarian Carolyn Clift.
