Alaska just broke a 28-year Republican streak, electing Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins as governor after he cleared the 50% mark needed to win outright.
Quick Take
- Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins won Alaska’s governor race with 50.81% of the vote, the state’s first Democrat governor since 1998.
- He topped 50% on first-choice ballots alone, so Alaska’s ranked-choice runoff rounds were never triggered.
- He replaces outgoing Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy in a seat the GOP had held for nearly three decades.
- The Alaska Division of Elections still labels the results unofficial, with certification targeted for November 25.
- The win adds to a wave of Democrat statehouse victories nationwide this cycle.
Democrat Crosses 50% Threshold to Win Outright
The Alaska Division of Elections’ unofficial summary, dated November 14, shows Kreiss-Tomkins winning 139,293 votes, or 50.81% of ballots cast for governor. That number matters because Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, and any candidate who clears 50% on first-choice votes wins immediately, no runoff rounds needed. Final vote tables show Republican Bernadette Wilson finishing second with 28.1%, Dave Bronson at 13.6%, and Attorney General Treg Taylor at 7.2%.
The Associated Press called the race for Kreiss-Tomkins, confirming he secured the governorship outright without needing the ballot-counting rounds that typically stretch Alaska races out for weeks. Alaska Public Media reported that Kreiss-Tomkins declared victory once results from the Division of Elections put him just above the majority line, and CNN followed with its own projection naming him the winner.
Alaska Replaces Republican Governor After Nearly 30 Years
Kreiss-Tomkins will replace outgoing Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy, ending a Republican hold on the Alaska governorship that dates back to 1998. CBS News described the result as Alaska’s first Democrat gubernatorial win in nearly three decades, a historic shift for a state Republicans have long counted on at the top of the ticket. Kreiss-Tomkins said voters wanted “a government that works across party lines to move Alaska forward,” a message aimed at Alaska’s famously independent-minded electorate.
Republican opponents in the race conceded once Kreiss-Tomkins’ first-choice share passed the majority threshold, closing out the contest without a formal ranked-choice tabulation. For a state that has sent Republicans to the governor’s mansion through multiple presidential cycles, the loss hands Democrats a foothold Alaska conservatives will be fighting to win back in four years.
Ranked-Choice System and Certification Timeline
Alaska’s ranked-choice system, in place since 2022, counts all first-choice votes before any runoff rounds begin. If a candidate reaches 50% plus one vote in that first round, the race ends immediately and no votes get redistributed to lower-ranked choices. That threshold is exactly what let Kreiss-Tomkins close out the race without weeks of additional tabulation that have slowed other Alaska contests this cycle.
🇺🇸 Democrats have FLIPPED Alaska's governorship for the first time since 1998, extending their sweeping wave of victories across the United States.
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, 37, defeated three Republican candidates, including Bernadette Wilson, who was endorsed by Trump
The… pic.twitter.com/Ljz8CUlITF
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 14, 2026
Alaska law still requires a formal certification step before the result becomes official. The state director of elections must certify the candidate with the most votes and issue a certificate of election once the statewide canvass review wraps up, with the state’s target certification date set for November 25. Until then, the Division of Elections’ own reporting labels the current numbers as unofficial, even as media organizations have already called the race.
Part of a Broader Democrat Statehouse Push
CBS News placed the Alaska result inside a wider national picture, noting the win adds to a string of Democrat gubernatorial victories this cycle and shifts the overall balance of governorships the party controls. For conservative voters who have watched Washington Democrats push big-government spending and progressive social policy, an Alaska flip is a reminder that statehouse races carry national stakes, even in a state long seen as a Republican stronghold built on energy independence and limited government.
Sources:
cbsnews.com, npr.org, elections.alaska.gov, alaskanews.com, apnews.com
