Democrats are hoping to take Alaska’s governor’s office for the first time in nearly 30 years, eyeing a rare opportunity in a state that has voted reliably Republican for decades. Alaska voters made their decision in the primaries on Tuesday, and it appears that two Democrats and two Republicans will advance to the November general election under the state’s unique jungle primary system. Although Alaska has historically leaned toward Republicans, Democrats view it as a potential gain in this year's midterms, as they believe President Donald Trump’s declining national approval rating gives them an opportunity to expand the electoral battleground.
The Senate race, in which GOP Senator Dan Sullivan is facing a challenge from Democratic former Representative Mary Peltola, is viewed as one of the most competitive races of the midterms. Forecasters like the Cook Political Report have viewed the governor's race as more favorable to Republicans, though limited polling suggests it is competitive. Alaska’s use of ranked-choice voting adds another layer of uncertainty to the race ahead of November.
Newsweek reached out to the gubernatorial campaigns of Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, Tom Begich, Bernadette Wilson, Dave Bronson, Treg Taylor and Click Bishop for comment via email. Alaska uses an electoral system unlike other states. It uses both a nonpartisan top-four primary system and ranked-choice voting for the general election.
In the primary, all candidates appeared on a single ballot regardless of political party, and the four candidates with the most votes advance to the general election. In the general election, voters will rank the four candidates according to their preference. If no candidate reaches an outright majority, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated, and their voters are redistributed based on their second choice.
If again no candidate wins 50 percent plus one, the process is repeated between the final two candidates. Most other states hold partisan primaries and use a first-past-the-post system in the general election. The new electoral system was implemented in the 2022 election cycle, and this will be the second gubernatorial race using it.
As of Wednesday morning, former state Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and former state Senator Tom Begich, both Democrats, had advanced to the general election, according to the . Kreiss-Tomkins led the field with 21.7 percent of the vote, while Begich’s support stood at 20.1 percent. The other two spots had not been called.
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