the U.S. Senate in 2010 and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014 Results Subsequent events In an upset, the unknown Thom Walker won the Libertarian nomination despite not campaigning and raising no money. Libertarians speculated that he was a Republican "plant" designed to keep a more viable Libertarian from winning the nomination and then taking votes away from the Republican nominee in the general election. They further speculated that Walker was chosen because he shared a surname with Bill Walker (no relation), who was running as an independent candidate in the 2014 gubernatorial election, and that voters may have been confused because Bill Walker did not appear on the primary ballot and thus they may have voted for Thom Walker in error. This confusion could have extended to the general election, with voters picking Thom Walker for the Senate, thinking he was Bill Walker. Walker withdrew from the race on August 27, saying that "my work location and schedule will have me out of town, out of contact and off the campaign trail for too long." The Libertarian executive board replaced him as the nominee with Mark Fish. Alaskan Independence nominee Vic Kohring, who had changed his voter registration from Republican to Alaskan Independence just before the filing deadline, withdrew from the race on September 2 and endorsed Dan Sullivan. The Alaskan Independence Party did not name a replacement nominee before the deadline for them to do so had passed. Republican primary Candidates Declared John Jaramillo, air force veteran Joe Miller, former U.S. magistrate judge and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2010 Dan Sullivan, former Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and former Alaska Attorney General Mead Treadwell, Lieutenant Governor of Alaska Withdrew Kathleen Tonn, anti-abortion activist Declined Timothy Mark Burgess, judge on the United States District Court for the District of Alaska Loren Leman, former lieutenant governor Lesil McGuire, state senator Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska and nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2008 Sean Parnell, Governor of Alaska (ran for re-election and lost) Dan Sullivan, Mayor of Anchorage (ran for Lieutenant Governor and lost) Former Ted Stevens, former U.S. Senator. Stevens had filed to run, and would have been 90 years old on Election Day, but he was killed in a plane crash on August 9, 2010. Endorsements Polling Results Independents Candidates Declared Ted Gianoutsos, founder of the Veterans Party