Former U.S. senator announces running for governor

SAN FRANCISCO, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. Senator from Alaska Mark Begich has announced he will be running for governor of the U.S. northwesternmost state on the Democratic ticket, the KTVA TV channel reported Friday.

KTVA quoted Debra Call, a member of the Cook Inlet tribal council, as saying that Begich has asked her to be his running mate to run for lieutenant governor.

"I was asked last night and I am excited... In the current national climate, I see the incentive to support a candidate, like Mark, that has a very positive outlook on the future of Alaska, and looking to build a robust economy," said 63-year-old Call, a lifelong Alaskan, Friday morning.

KTVA said Begich's announcement came hours after incumbent Governor Bill Walker's campaign declared that he would skip the Democratic primary and run in the general election as an independent.

Lindsay Hobson, a spokeswoman for Walker's campaign, confirmed the governor's decision to seek re-election by petition in the general election rather than run in the Democratic primary.

Begich, Democrat, served as U.S. senator representing Alaska from 2009 to 2015. He was mayor of Anchorage, Alaska's most populous city, from 2003 to 2009.

The 2018 Alaska gubernatorial election will take place on Nov. 6 this year, and Walker, the second native-born Alaska governor, is running for re-election to a second term. Enditem