Gov.-elect Bill Walker and Lt. Gov.-elect Byron Mallott will be sworn into office Monday morning at Juneau’s Centennial Hall. The public inauguration ceremony begins at 11:30 and is expected to last about an hour.
There will be seating available in the main ballroom for nearly a 1,000 people.
Alaska Airlines is adding an extra Anchorage-to-Juneau flight Monday morning to accommodate inauguration traffic. Lindsay Hobson is Walker’s daughter and a campaign spokeswoman: “This is the first time in state history where we have had both an Alaskan-born governor and lieutenant governor serving together,” Hobson said.
“You know, I think there’s going to be a lot of energy, a lot of excitement. And also, it is our first nonpartisan administration in Alaska history. And the only nonpartisan governor in the United States right now. So it will be certainly one to remember.”
After the ceremony, Hobson says Walker and Mallott will head to the third floor of the Capitol building to physically assume their offices. Walker plans to stay in the Governor’s Mansion Monday night.
Jeremy Hsieh is the deputy managing editor of the KTOO newsroom in Juneau. He’s a podcast fiend who’s worked in journalism since high school as a reporter, editor and television producer. He ran Gavel Alaska for 360 North from 2011 to 2016, and is big on experimenting with novel tools and mediums (including the occasional animated gif) to tell stories and demystify the news. Jeremy’s an East Coast transplant who moved to Juneau in 2008.
