Democrats captured Alaska’s governorship for the first time in nearly three decades, marking another big victory for their party in a midterm election that has dramatically shifted political power across the United States. Former Alaska state legislator Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins defeated three Republican opponents, including a candidate endorsed by Donald Trump, becoming Alaska’s first Democratic elected governor since 1998. His victory, called by the Associated Press on Friday, 10 days after polls closed, adds to a growing list of Democratic achievements across the country, bringing the party’s total to 30 U.S. governorships. Democrats have also taken control of governor’s offices in several other long-standing Republican strongholds, including Iowa, Georgia, Ohio and Texas. Kreiss-Tomkins, widely known as JKT, secured victory after making a political comeback three years after leaving the Alaska House of Representatives. The 37-year-old traveled extensively throughout the state during his campaign, building support around economic concerns and a promise to change the direction of Alaska’s government. for public education and require all oil and gas producers to pay corporate income taxes. He also pushed for a temporary halt to the development of new data centers until state lawmakers established regulations governing their construction. Throughout the campaign, Kreiss-Tomkins sharply criticized the leadership of outgoing Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy, arguing that Alaska had “broken” during his eight years in office. “Alaskans are hungry for change,” Kreiss-Tomkins said. “We’ve been running the same campaign since we launched in February, and I don’t take anyone’s vote for granted.” Among their criticisms was the deterioration of the state’s ferry system, which Kreiss-Tomkins said had been left in disarray as service to numerous communities had been drastically reduced. The ferry network serves as a critical transportation link for Southeast Alaska communities that lack road connections, including some with limited access to air travel. Despite his criticism of the outgoing administration, Kreiss-Tomkins presented himself as a leader willing to work across political divides. He pledged to form a cabinet that includes Democrats, Republicans and independents. Unlike most states, Alaska allows voters to rank candidates by preference using ranked-choice voting, a system that also allows multiple candidates from the same political party to compete against each other. But Kreiss-Tomkins avoided the need for additional rounds of vote counting after winning more than 50% of first-choice votes, securing an outright victory. The Alaska result comes just days after Democrats scored another major gubernatorial victory. in Kansas, a staunchly conservative state, where Democratic state senator Cindy Holscher narrowly defeated Republican state senate president Ty Masterson. Skip Newsletter Promotion Free Newsletter | About 2 to 3 times a day Subscribe to Breaking News US Get the breaking news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Masterson, who received Trump’s endorsement, faced a campaign in which Holscher repeatedly highlighted his ties to the Republican president. At the same time, Holscher maintained that she would remain willing to cooperate with the Trump administration on issues where common ground could be found. The back-to-back victories in Alaska and Kansas underscore the scale of Democratic gains in what has become a national electoral shift. The party’s long-awaited “blue wave” has now materialized, with Democrats gaining eight seats in the U.S. Senate, gaining more than two dozen seats in the House, and significantly expanding their control of governors’ offices after the Nov. 3 election. Such gains have given Democrats a strong majority in Congress during the second half of Trump’s second presidency, creating a major shift in the balance of power in Washington and state governments across the United States. Meanwhile, with few ballots left to count in Alaska’s U.S. Senate midterm elections, Democrat Mary Peltola was leading Republican incumbent Dan S Sullivan on Saturday, Alaska Public Media reported. That had led MS Now to characterize that Senate race as “leaning Democratic.” In addition to Alaska and Kansas, the Democratic Party won gubernatorial elections over Republicans in Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas, allowing them to control a majority of governorships for the first time since 2010. Gina Hinojosa is the first Democrat elected governor of Texas in 35 years, and also the state’s first Hispanic governor. A major factor in the GOP’s midterm defeat is the unpopularity of Trump, whom most Republican lawmakers clung to even when polls indicated voters did not support his immigration crackdown, tariffs, war with Iran or his domestic policy bill.
