Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins wins race for Alaska governor, replaces a Republican

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a Democrat, has won the race for governor of Alaska and will replace the outgoing Republican. Here he's seen at a polling station at the University of Alaska Anchorage on Election Day. Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media hide caption

Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media

Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a former state representative from the small island community of Sitka, won the race for Alaska governor, according to a race call by the Associated Press. At 37, he'll be the youngest governor in state history.

Kreiss-Tomkins will replace outgoing Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a term-limited Republican who has been governor since 2018. The state's last Democratic governor was Tony Knowles, who left office in 2002.

Kreiss-Tomkins, known by his initials JKT, made his "high-energy, bipartisan, problem-solving approach" a centerpiece of his campaign.

He's 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 — along with Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Alaskans have had enough of zero-sum partisan politics, he said in an interview just before voting at a precinct in Anchorage on Election Day.

"I strongly believe people just want things to work, and want people to work together," Kreiss-Tomkins said.

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The AP race call came after over a week of counting votes, including those coming in by mail and from remote parts of the state. In the ranked-choice system the state uses, he faced three Republican candidates, including one backed by President Trump. Winning requires getting a majority of the votes.

Voters were also facing a question on the ballot about whether to scrap that unique, ranked-choice system. That proposal failed, according to another AP race call, keeping the system in place.

With Kreiss-Tomkins' win and others in the midterms, Democrats will hold 30 governors' offices across the country, up from 24 now.

Kreiss-Tomkins will take office in a state where voters have loudly complained that things aren't working as they should.

Rising costs and relatively flat state funding have forced schools to close and class sizes to rise. Already-high costs for food, fuel and housing have risen sharply, and a looming shortage of easily accessible natural gas near the state's population centers is threatening to push prices higher. And Alaskans have been migrating out of the state for more than a decade.

The Republicans in the race were Trump-backed business owner Bernadette Wilson, former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and former Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor.

Kreiss-Tomkins is set to take office at noon Dec. 7.

Eric Stone covers state government for Alaska Public Media.