Byron Ivar Mallott (April 6, 1943 – May 8, 2020) 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 the 12th 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. Mallott was an Alaskan Native of the Tlingit tribe. His Tlingit name was Dux̱ da neiḵ, K'oo del ta', which means "'a person who would lead us into the future'". Mallott's father established a general store in a spare room of the family home in 1946. Mallott spent most of his childhood living in Yakutat. As an adult, Mallott recounted that he had attended Pius X Mission, a Catholic boarding school located in Skagway, starting at age 13. He graduated from Sheldon Jackson High School and studied for several years at Western Washington State College. Career in politics and government 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. Mallott was the first Commissioner of the Department of Community and Regional Affairs. 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