Alaska held a nonpartisan primary Tuesday with 17 governor-lieutenant governor candidate pairs vying to advance to the November general election. The race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Michael Dunleavy saw a variety of political figures on the ballot.
Former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and his running mate Zac Johnson secured the top spot, while former Democratic state Sen. Tom Begich and Julia Hnilicks finished second. Both pairs will advance to the general election, along with two other winning duos.
Several notable political names participated in the primary. Tom Begich, whose family has a long history in Alaska politics, was considered a frontrunner. His father, Rep. Nick Begich Sr., served in the state and federal legislatures, and his brother, Mark Begich, was a longtime U.S. senator. While most of the family members are Democrats, Rep. Nick Begich III is a Republican.
Among the leading Republican candidates was Bernadette Wilson, a business owner whose family has roots in Alaska. Her running mate was Michael Shower. Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, Dunleavy’s Republican deputy, had previously withdrawn from the race. Michael Loren Gilbert, another Republican candidate, expressed interest in expanding the state's energy production and exploring a highway link to the Lower 48 states. Gilbert’s running mate, Timothy Hickel, is from another prominent Alaskan political family; his father, former Gov. Wally Hickel, served two nonconsecutive terms as governor and was also President Richard Nixon’s interior secretary.
Former Anchorage Mayor David Bronson, a Republican, was also a leading candidate, running with Josh Church. Former state Sen. Click Bishop, R-North Star, also competed with lieutenant governor candidate Greta Schuerch.
The state employs ranked-choice voting for its general elections. Under this system, voters rank candidates in order of preference, and votes are redistributed in subsequent rounds as candidates with fewer votes are eliminated.
While Alaska is generally considered a Republican-leaning state, Begich's advancement presents an opportunity for Democrats to potentially win the governor's mansion following Dunleavy's departure. This election cycle also saw Rep. Nick Begich III defeat then-Rep. Mary Peltola, who had previously won the seat after the death of Rep. Don Young, who represented the state for nearly five decades.