Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a former state representative from Sitka, has won the race for governor of Alaska, according to a call by the Associated Press, NPR reported. At 37, he will be the youngest governor in state history. He replaces outgoing Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is term-limited and has held the office since 2018. The state's last Democratic governor was Tony Knowles, who left office in 2002. The AP call came after more than a week of counting, including mail ballots, a delay typical of Alaska's extended count.
Kreiss-Tomkins, known by his initials JKT, made a "high-energy, bipartisan, problem-solving approach" the centerpiece of his campaign. He has said he plans to build an administration of Democrats, Republicans and independents and described himself at a debate as a "man of the middle." He was endorsed by three former governors — a Democrat, a Republican and an independent — and by Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Just before voting at a precinct in Anchorage on Election Day, he told an interviewer that Alaskans had had enough of zero-sum partisan politics. "I strongly believe people just want things to work, and want people to work together," he said.
The win returns a Democrat to the governor's office after 24 years and after two terms of Dunleavy, a Republican whose tenure set the backdrop for the race. Kreiss-Tomkins's pitch was not a sharp ideological break so much as a promise of a mixed-party administration and a style he called bipartisan. Murkowski's endorsement, and those of former governors from three party labels, were offered as evidence that the pitch had some reach beyond Democratic regulars. Whether that coalition can be turned into a cabinet, and whether a 37-year-old first-time governor can govern a state used to Republican executives, are questions the election itself does not answer.
The verified news is an AP-called victory, a generational first, and a party change in Juneau after more than two decades. It is not yet a complete certified canvass in every precinct, and it is not a forecast of how Kreiss-Tomkins will staff or steer the state once he is sworn in. In Alaska's ranked-choice system he faced three Republican candidates, including one backed by President Trump: business owner Bernadette Wilson, former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson, and former Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor. Winning requires a majority. Kreiss-Tomkins is set to take office at noon on Dec. 7. With his win and others in the midterms, Democrats will hold 30 governors' offices across the country, up from 24, NPR reported. He inherits a state where voters have complained that things are not working as they should: rising costs and relatively flat state funding have forced school closures and larger class sizes, food, fuel and housing costs have risen sharply, a looming shortage of easily accessible natural gas near population centers threatens still-higher prices, and Alaskans have been migrating out of the state for more than a decade.