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In a move that will shake up the Alaska governor's race, the Democrat running for the Last Frontier's highest office is poised to suspend his own campaign and join forces with the independent candidate in a unity ticket.

Democrat Byron Mallott, in an interview Tuesday, said he and independent Bill Walker would announce shortly that Walker would seek the governor's office,retaining his unaffiliated banner, and Mallott would seek the post oflieutenant governor and keep his party designation.

The new configuration puts Walker in a head-to-head contest against the Republican incumbent, Gov. Sean Parnell.

"There's been a lot of speculation over the course of several weeks that in a three-way race there's no way for a Walker candidacy or my candidacy to prevail," Mallott told the Los Angeles Times. "We will merge our campaigns and move forward as a unified Alaskan ticket. This is unprecedented."

Parnell spokesman Luke Miller, in a statement to The Times, offered congratulations to Bill Walker and Byron Mallott for confirming what Alaskans already knew: they are two peas in a Democrat pod."

"Bill Walker is really a Democrat, and he and Byron can now advocate freely for [President] Obamas policies in Alaska," Miller said. "Whether expanding Obamacare, raising taxes or growing government, Bill and Byron have confirmed they are part of Alaska's Team Obama."

Although the Alaska primaries were held on Aug. 19, Tuesday is the deadline for changes to the Nov. 4 ballot, Mallott said. In order for the Democrat to suspend his campaign, the party state central committee had to vote in favor of such a switch. Late Monday its members did just that, on a 89-2 vote.

"We have a competitive governor's race," Democratic Party spokesman Zack Fields told The Times. "The party endorsed their partnership."

Fields said central committee members had "raised many concerns about Parnell's record, whether it's billion-dollar deficits, cuts to public education, or a cavalier disregard for Alaska's best interests."

In addition to the central committee vote, the Democratic and independent candidates for lieutenant governor had to agree to drop out, which Mallott said they did. Hollis French was running for lieutenant governor as a Democrat and Craig Fleener as an unaffiliated candidate.

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Democrat abandons Alaska governor's race and joins a 'unity ticket'

Katie McGinty, the head of a committee supporting Wolf, stopped in York County Tuesday

By Ed Mahon

emahon@ydr.com @edmahonreporter on Twitter

Katie McGinty, the head of a committee supporting Democrat Tom Wolf for governor, stopped in York County Tuesday and criticized Gov. Tom Corbett on education, including his support of former state Education Secretary Ron Tomalis.

Here's a look at what happened.

WHAT SHE SAID >> McGinty said education cuts under Corbett have led to bigger class sizes, cuts for music and art classes, higher property taxes, and tens of thousands of teachers losing their jobs. She called for an extraction tax on natural gas drilling to fund education.

"This is an administration now that has done a terrible job for our kids and homeowners," McGinty said.

THE SETTING >> A sidewalk near Central York Middle School.

WHO ELSE WAS THERE >> State Rep. Kevin Schreiber, D-York, and Democrat Linda Small of New Freedom. Small is challenging state Sen. Scott Wagner, R-Spring Garden Township, in November.

WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH RON TOMALIS? >> McGinty on Tuesday called him "a ghost employee."

The rest is here:
Democrat Katie McGinty criticizes Corbett on education funding

POLL: Democrat Mark Schauer takes lead over Rick Snyder in toss-up race for Michigan governor
POLL: Democrat Mark Schauer takes lead over Rick Snyder in toss-up race for Michigan governor.

By: WXYZ-TV Detroit / Channel 7

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POLL: Democrat Mark Schauer takes lead over Rick Snyder in toss-up race for Michigan governor - Video

So you're a Democratic congressman running in one of the most competitive reelection races this cycle, in a district that has flipped several times between both parties in the past decade. It's time to start airing TV ads. What do you do?

It seems that Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Tex.) has found a way to knock both House Republicans and President Obama. In less than 30 seconds.

The setting for the ad is a playground where the congressman's 9-year old, Nicolas, is seen playing with other young boys.

"When I tell my dad some kids don't play fair -- all he does is laugh," Nicolas says.

Cut to Gallego: "There isn't much difference between the playground at Nicolas' school and the floor of Congress, except when they take their ball and go home - we all get hurt," he says. "During the government shutdown, I didn't take my pay like others did. And I told the president 'no' to special treatment for Congress when he tried to exempt them from Obamacare."

In those two sentences, Gallego not only conjures up memories of last fall's government shutdown -- for which Americans generally blame congressional Republicans -- but also finds a way to needle Obama for the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act, which remains unpopular across most of the country. Notably, Gallego doesn't say he opposes the law, widely known as Obamacare -- he merely name drops one of several GOP-backed measures he supported to change or chip away at the law.

The balance Gallego strikes -- by overtly offending both parties -- is notable when contrasted with messages by other vulnerable House Democrats.

There's Reps. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.), who's airing a biographical spot that emphasizes how he likes to put "Arizona First." Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W. Va.), a perennially endangered Democrat, attacked super PACs in his first ad, but also played up his home state roots. Rep. Bill Enyart (D-Ill.) plays up the work he's done for his district in a spot shot along the banks of the Mississippi River. In his first ad of the cycle, Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) mentions several Democratic-backed proposals he supports, including same-sex marriage.

Perhaps the Democrat coming closest to Gallego's approach is Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), who barely won his seat two years ago, and has been playing up his supposed willingness to work with both parties in several ads. In one spot where he's seen jogging, Murphy talks about how he opposes congressional pay raises, supported bills to withhold congressional pay during budget impasses and doesn't use the House Gym.

Gallego faces Republican Will Hurd, a former CIA operative, in the Lone Star State's most closely-watched House race. Whoever wins will represent the 23rd Congressional District of Texas, a sprawling region that stretches from San Antonio's western suburbs to the eastern outskirts of El Paso and includes the longest stretch of U.S.-Mexico border in any district. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won the district in 2012 by 3 percentage points; Sen. Ted Cruz (R) won it by 6 percent. Gallego won by 5 points. The seat has switched parties five times in the past 20 years -- one of the few left that has flip-flopped so frequently.

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Democrat finds a way to knock both the GOP and Obamacare in less than 30 seconds

WORLAND -- Mike Ceballos didn't take a bite of pie all night.

His campaign team kept him on his toes -- former Worland Mayor LaVertha Gotier most of all -- despite long tables loaded with sizzling hamburgers and tempting potato chips.

"I even got a check for you," Gotier said after saying hello at the Worland-Ten Sleep Chamber of Commerce barbecue Aug. 26.

Ceballos laughed, slapped his knee.

"Well," he said. "Well. Thank you."

"Every vote counts," Gotier said. "C'mon, doll."

She took Ceballos' arm and led him to a row of middle-age people sitting behind a dessert table, where Ceballos shook hands and explained several times how to pronounce his Spanish last name.

The barbecue was the latest stop for Ceballos, a Democrat and former telecommunications executive running for superintendent of public instruction, the top schools job in the state.

Ceballos knows that to win, he has to woo voters outside his party and from all over Wyoming, where two of every three voters are registered Republicans.

So he's going to places like Worland. As of the primary election last month, 579 registered Democrats lived in the whole county.

Read more from the original source:
Democrat schools chief contender reaches out to Republican heartland