2014 Alaska gubernatorial election and Mallott merged their campaigns to appear on the November ballot as a single independent ticket, which the Alaska Democratic Party endorsed. On this ticket, Walker ran for governor with Mallott as his running mate. Both candidates' former running mates withdrew. Parnell was considered vulnerable, as reflected in his low approval ratings. The consensus among "The Cook Political Report", "Governing", "The Rothenberg Political Report", "Sabato's Crystal Ball", "Daily Kos Elections", and others was that the contest was a tossup. Former Republican governor Sarah Palin, who had praised Parnell as her successor when she resigned in 2009, endorsed Walker and Mallott,
Governor General of Canada academic David Johnston, former principal of McGill University and subsequently president of the University of Waterloo, there was a signalled emphasis for the Governor General to vigorously promote learning and innovation. Johnston stated in his inaugural address: "[We want to be] a society that innovates, embraces its talent and uses the knowledge of each of its citizens to improve the human condition for all." There was also a recognition of Johnston's expertise in constitutional law, following the controversial prorogations of parliament in 2008 and 2009, which initiated some debate about the governor general's role as the representative of Canada's head