Byron Mallott


Byron Ivar Mallott was an American politician, elder, tribal activist and business executive from the state of Alaska. Mallott was an Alaska Native leader of Tlingit heritage and the leader of the Kwaash Ké Kwaan clan. He was lieutenant governor of Alaska, from December 2014 until his resignation on October 16, 2018. He also previously served as the mayor of Yakutat, the mayor of Juneau, the president of the Alaska Federation of Natives and the executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund.
Mallott was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Alaska in 2014, until he agreed to merge his campaign with that of independent candidate Bill Walker and become Walker's running mate. Walker and Mallott won the election and were sworn in on December 1, 2014. In 2018, Mallott abruptly resigned after it was discovered he made inappropriate overtures to a woman.

Early life

Byron Ivar Mallott was born on April 6, 1943, in Yakutat, Alaska, to Jay B. Mallott and Emma M. Brown. His father established a general store in a spare room of the family home in 1946. Byron spent most of his childhood living in Yakutat. He graduated from Sheldon Jackson High School and studied for several years at Western Washington State College.

Career

Political

Mallott's political career began in 1965 when his father, who served as Yakutat's mayor for the vast majority of the position's existence, died. He left college and returned to Yakutat, running to replace him, and won the election. He left office before the expiration of his term, taking a job in the office of Governor Bill Egan towards the end of Egan's first governorship. His job in the governor's office was focused on local government affairs, one of the few constitutionally mandated executive functions in Alaska.
After Egan was defeated for re-election by Walter Hickel in 1966, Mallott returned to Yakutat and served on the city council.
In 1968, Mallott received the Democratic nomination for the 5th district in the Alaska House of Representatives. In the general election he was narrowly defeated by Henry E. Reeves by twenty-three votes. Mallot posted the $250 for a recount, but the vote total remained the same. In 1969, Senator Mike Gravel appointed him to serve as a special assistant.

Business career

In 1972, Mallott became a member of the newly formed Sealaska Corporation and was elected director. He served as chairman of the board from 1976 to 1983. In 1982, he was selected to serve as the CEO and kept his position until retirement on July 1, 1992.
Mallott became chairman of Alaska's Reapportionment Board, but on September 5, 1980, he resigned from the board for personal reasons.
In 1982, Mallott was appointed to the board of trustees of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation by Governor Jay Hammond to replace Elmer Rasmuson. In 1985, he was selected to serve as the chairman of the permanent fund and later served as the executive director from 1995 to 2000. He had also established a permanent fund for Sealaska shareholders during his tenure there, which had grown to a net worth of $100 million by the late 1990s.

Mayor of Juneau

Incumbent mayor Jamie Parsons declined to seek re-election in 1994 after one term in office. On August 16, 1994, Mallott announced that he would run in Juneau's mayoral election. He was elected mayor of Juneau in that municipality's 1994 general election. He resigned from office after he was selected to serve as the executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation. Mallott faced harsh criticism when he initially announced that he could handle serving in both positions, leading to changing his mind and resigning the mayoral position. Mallott was succeeded as mayor by deputy mayor Dennis Egan.

Other posts held

Mallott had also served as:
He was also awarded an honorary doctorate in humanities by the University of Alaska.

2014 gubernatorial election

Mallott announced on September 2, 2013 that he was running for the Democratic nomination for governor of Alaska in the 2014 election. He won the Democratic gubernatorial primary with 80% of the vote on August 19, 2014.
Independent candidate Bill Walker and Mallott merged their campaigns on September 2 to appear on the November ballot as one independent campaign, which the Alaska Democratic Party endorsed. On this ticket, Walker ran for governor with Mallott as his running mate. Both candidates' respective prior running mates withdrew. They won the election on November 4, 2014, as there was a recount due to a close election result.

2018 gubernatorial election

In 2017, Walker and Mallott registered to run for re-election on an independent ticket. Despite running for reelection as an independent, Mallott maintained his Democratic Party registration.
They faced the Republican ticket headed by state senator Mike Dunleavy and the Democratic ticket headed by former senator Mark Begich, until Mallott's resignation from office on October 16 and Bill Walker's eventual campaign suspension on October 19.

Resignation

Mallott resigned his post as lieutenant governor on October 16, 2018, citing "inappropriate comments" that he had made to a woman whom Governor Walker refused to name. He was succeeded as lieutenant governor by Valerie Davidson, the former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

Personal life and death

Mallott was married to Antoinette Mallott, a retired schoolteacher who spent most of her career teaching elementary grades in the Juneau School District. They had five children. The Mallotts lived in the West Juneau neighborhood of Juneau, located on Douglas Island near downtown Juneau.
Mallott suffered a heart attack at his home in Juneau on May 7, 2020, and was flown by a medical charter to Anchorage. He died the following day, at the age of 77.

Electoral history