AK-Gov: Things may be about to get a whole lot more complicated in Alaska, where the in-state political blog The Midnight Sun is reporting that former Democratic Sen. Mark Begich will run for governor against independent incumbent Bill Walker, although Begich hasn't announced his plans just yet. Walker has been planning on taking advantage of a state law that lets him run in the Democratic primary while remaining an independent, but he said on Friday that he will skip the primary and run as a pure independent if Begich joins the race. We'll know soon enough what they're planning, since the filing deadline is on Friday.
Walker only won his first term in 2014 by a narrow margin thanks to the support of Democrats and swing voters, and having Begich running on his left flank and splitting their overlapping supporters could significantly increase the chances that both men lose to whomever Republicans eventually nominate in this conservative state. It's unclear if Begich is trying to pressure Walker, who has had a tumultuous first term thanks to a budget crisis from declining oil revenue, into dropping out of the race entirely. But if they're both on the general election ballot, it's hard to see how either stands a good chance of winning against the GOP.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Mike Chenault, who previously served as speaker, has dropped out of the Republican primary. His exit leaves former state Sen. Mike Dunleavy and businessman Scott Hawkins as the most noteworthy Republicans still in the race.