NBC's Decision Desk has marked Bill Walker the apparent winner in Alaska's gubernatorial race. The independent was narrowly beating incumbent Republican Sean Parnell by 3,000 votes after election night and now holds an edge of over 4,000 votes as ballots continue to be counted.
Walker, an attorney and former mayor of Valdez, is the first candidate unaffiliated with a party to be elected governor since statehood. Parnell faced sharp criticism in the lead-up to the election over his administration's handling of allegations of sexual assault and other misconduct within the Alaska National Guard. Parnell said he and his staff followed up on every allegation they received.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.