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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'