Alaska News

Governor's transition coordinator signs off the job

JUNEAU -- Gov. Bill Walker's transition coordinator has finished his assignment and is no longer working in the Capitol, he said Wednesday.

Bruce Botelho, a former state attorney general and Juneau mayor, said his last day was Friday.

The presence of Botelho, a Democrat, in a suite on the third floor of the Capitol across from Walker's office had been a source of consternation for some Republican legislative leaders.

Walker is a longtime Republican but dropped his party affiliation and merged his campaign with Democrat Byron Mallott, who is now the lieutenant governor. Walker unseated Republican incumbent Sean Parnell in November.

Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage, said in an interview Wednesday that Botelho's "fingerprints are all over the administration," though he declined to elaborate.

Johnson said Walker was entitled to choose his own appointees, but added: "Any time you have someone on the opposite side of the political spectrum making decisions, I'm not going to like it."

A spokeswoman for Walker said Botelho had been paid $10 per day.

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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