Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins won the Alaska governor’s race, NBC News projects, wresting control of the office from Republicans. Kreiss-Tomkins’ victory marks the latest victory for Democrats at the state level in this year’s elections. The party will hold 30 governorships next year after changing control in six states. At 37, Kreiss-Tomkins will be the youngest governor in Alaska’s history and next year he will be the youngest sitting governor in the country. Kreiss-Tomkins, a former state lawmaker, defeated three Republicans on the ballot to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy. In Alaska, the top four primary vote getters, regardless of party, advance to the general election, where ranked-choice voting is used. Kreiss-Tomkins received the majority of votes on the first ballot, so the ranked choice aspect did not come into play in the race. Former state Sen. Tom Begich, a Democrat, finished second in the August primary, just behind Kreiss-Tomkins. But he dropped out of the race soon after to consolidate Democratic support behind Kreiss-Tomkins. The three Republican candidates in the November election were Anchorage businesswoman Bernadette Wilson, former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and former state Attorney General Treg Taylor. Wilson, who had the backing of President Donald Trump, finished a distant second. Kreiss-Tomkins, who often goes by JKT in the state, garnered bipartisan support during her campaign. Most notably, he received the endorsement of Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski a week before Election Day. “JKT is a young Alaskan with a vision and a perspective that I think Alaska needs right now: a freshness of energy, a common-sense guy who has a known ability to work together,” Murkowski said in an interview with Anchorage’s NBC affiliate KTUU. Kreiss-Tomkins campaigned to increase funding for public schools, reduce energy costs, expand Medicaid and protect Alaska fisheries. He also called for a moratorium on all new data centers until the state legislature can pass regulations, and said he would not allow direct or indirect subsidies to data centers for electricity costs.
