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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Latest on the Alaska primary (all times local):
4:55 p.m.
Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott have submitted signatures to qualify for the November general election ballot.
Each needed to collect about 3,200 signatures. Walker told reporters each collected more than that.
They gathered signatures rather than compete in Tuesday's primaries. Walker is an independent. Mallott is a Democrat.
Walker flirted with running in the Democratic primary, but he saw the signature-gathering route as a way to ensure that he and Mallott could run as a ticket.
The signatures were turned in on Walker's 41st wedding anniversary.
He carried in his pocket a jewelry box with a gift for his wife, a locket he said contained gold he found panning in Fairbanks. As cameras clicked and recorded, he said it would be her "maybe-not-so-much-of-a-surprise gift."
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11:50 a.m.
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott plan to submit signatures Monday to qualify for the fall general election ballot.
The campaign plans to submit the signatures in Anchorage, on the eve of the deadline to do so.
Walker and Mallott are skipping Tuesday's party primaries. Walker, an independent, flirted with running in the Democratic primary but opted against that when it appeared former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich would enter the race.
Alaska Democrats opened their primaries to independents who want the party's backing.
Walker has said that bypassing the primary ensured he and Mallott, who is a Democrat, could run as a team.
Begich is unopposed in Tuesday's Democratic primary. Former state Sen. Mike Dunleavy and former Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell are among the candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor.
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10:30 a.m.
Alaskans on Tuesday will decide which Republican candidate will move on in what's expected to be a closely watched governor's race this fall.
They also will select the latest candidate to try to unseat Republican Rep. Don Young, who is the longest-serving member of the U.S. House. The 85-year-old has served in the House since 1973.
Former state Sen. Mike Dunleavy and former Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell are the highest-profile Republicans seeking their party's nomination for governor.
The winner moves on to the November general election.
Gov. Bill Walker, an independent, is skipping Tuesday's primaries. Former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich is unopposed in the Democratic primary.
In the other big race on the ballot, independent Alyse Galvin and Democrat Dimitri Shein are vying to challenge Young. He is expected to advance from his primary.
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