Alaska voters have elected a Democrat as governor for the first time since 1998. The Associated Press called the race on Friday for former state lawmaker Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who defeated three Republican candidates in a contest that capped a sweeping midterm night for Democrats across the country.
Kreiss-Tomkins, 37, completed a political comeback three years after leaving the Alaska House of Representatives. His victory means Democrats will control the governor’s office in 30 states, up from 24 before the November 3 midterm elections, in a year when the party also flipped governor’s seats in Iowa, Georgia, Ohio and Texas.
A three-way Republican field, and a Trump endorsement that did not decide it
Kreiss-Tomkins beat business owner Bernadette Wilson, former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and former state Attorney General Treg Taylor. President Donald Trump had endorsed Wilson and publicly criticized the other Republican candidates for staying in the race.
Wilson finished third in the August open primary, behind Kreiss-Tomkins and a second Democrat, Tom Begich, who later withdrew and threw his support behind a single Democratic candidacy. Many Alaska Republicans had hoped ranked-choice voting would consolidate their vote, a message that ran against Trump’s repeated complaints about the state’s voting method, including at a rally in Alaska in October.
The result still awaits formal certification by the state, the final administrative step after the AP’s call. Alaska’s Division of Elections had listed the count as unofficial in its latest update before the call.
What Kreiss-Tomkins campaigned on
Kreiss-Tomkins travelled across the state building a coalition around affordability, full funding for public schools and a requirement that all oil and gas producers pay corporate income tax. He also called for a halt on new data centres until state lawmakers pass regulations for their development, and for repairs to a state ferry system he said had been left in shambles, with routes to many communities cut drastically.
He said Alaska had become “broken” under eight years of outgoing Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy and needed a change. The ferry is a key mode of transport for south-east Alaska communities that are not connected by roads, some of which also have limited air service.
A bipartisan pitch, and a notable endorsement
Kreiss-Tomkins, often known by his initials JKT, emphasised a willingness to work across party lines and said he wanted a cabinet of Republicans, Democrats and independents. “If they’re competent, if they’re service-minded, if they’re entrepreneurial, if they’re problem-solvers, you’re on the team. Game on,” he said during a candidate forum last month. “Let’s go, and let’s get Alaska back on track.”
He called compromise “a virtue, not a dirty word,” and said he saw the new governor’s mission as working with lawmakers to resolve longstanding problems in the state. Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski endorsed Kreiss-Tomkins a week before the election, saying he “understands that governing requires listening to people with different perspectives and finding common ground to solve the problems all of us face.”
Three former governors — Democrat Tony Knowles, independent Bill Walker and Republican Frank Murkowski — also endorsed him. In a statement after the call, Kreiss-Tomkins said voters wanted change and “a government that works across party lines to move Alaska forward. Our administration will not waste a single day getting to work to solve problems for Alaska.” His campaign said it had more than 10,000 donors.
The race at a glance
| Candidate | Party | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins | Democrat | Winner |
| Bernadette Wilson | Republican | Defeated |
| Dave Bronson | Republican | Defeated |
| Treg Taylor | Republican | Defeated |
When the new governor takes office
Kreiss-Tomkins will be sworn in on Monday, December 7, 2026, succeeding Dunleavy, who has held the office since 2018. His lieutenant governor will be Zac Johnson, an independent.
The last Democratic governor, Tony Knowles, left office in 2002 after serving back-to-back terms, having won his second term in 1998. Kreiss-Tomkins is the first Democrat elected governor of Alaska since 1998.
The win extends the Democrats’ midterm sweep that also delivered them both chambers of Congress, a result covered in our report on the 2026 midterm results.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who won the Alaska governor’s race in 2026?
A: Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a 37-year-old former state lawmaker. The Associated Press called the race for him on Friday, November 13, after days of vote counting.
Q: When will Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins take office as Alaska governor?
A: He will be sworn in on Monday, December 7, 2026. His lieutenant governor will be Zac Johnson, an independent.
Q: Why is this Alaska governor result historic?
A: Kreiss-Tomkins is the first Democrat elected governor of Alaska since 1998, when Tony Knowles won his second term. The state had been led by Republican Mike Dunleavy for the past eight years.
Q: Who did Kreiss-Tomkins defeat?
A: He defeated three Republicans: Bernadette Wilson, a business owner endorsed by President Donald Trump; Dave Bronson, a former mayor of Anchorage; and Treg Taylor, a former state attorney general under Dunleavy.
Q: How does Alaska’s ranked-choice voting work?
A: Under Alaska’s ranked-choice system, voters rank candidates in order of preference. A candidate who wins more than half of first-choice votes takes the race without a further round of redistribution.
