Alaska News

Walker, Mallott schedule 7 inaugural balls across Alaska

Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott will hold seven inaugural balls across the state starting early next year.

The balls will be on five consecutive Saturdays starting Jan. 3 in Valdez, followed by Juneau, Nome, Fairbanks and Anchorage. The last two are Feb. 6 in Wasilla and March 7 in Ketchikan.

Lindsay Hobson, one of Walker's daughters, is coordinating the balls with Mandy Mallott, a daughter-in-law of the lieutenant governor.

Hobson said the theme for the balls is "Better Together." People can represent that however they see fit, she said, suggesting green and blue for the Seattle Seahawks football team.

"Or dress as the Spice Girls because they were better together," Hobson said.

Tickets for the balls will range from $50 to $100. Most of the venues and times have not been announced yet though the Fairbanks ball will take place at 6 p.m. at the Carlson Center.

The event in Valdez -- where Walker spent time growing up and served as mayor -- is already sold out even though it wasn't publicly advertised, Hobson said. As a result, a second event is scheduled for the same day, in the afternoon at Gilson Middle School, Hobson said.

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No state money will be used to pay for the balls, Hobson said. She said private sponsors would be recruited, and organizers hope to raise a similar amount of money as past inaugural committees, which have solicited as much as $500,000 in contributions in past years.

Hobson said organizers have already been contacted by a number of Alaska companies asking where to send checks.

Watchdog groups have warned that such fundraising can provide special interests with an avenue to cultivate goodwill with a new administration, and Alaska has no rules that cap contributions to inaugural committees or that require disclosure of donors.

Hobson said the identity of the donors would be made public. The exact dollar amount of the donations will probably not be disclosed, she added, though ranges would be.

Nathaniel Herz

Anchorage-based independent journalist Nathaniel Herz has been a reporter in Alaska for nearly a decade, with stints at the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. Read his newsletter, Northern Journal, at natherz.substack.com

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