Murkowski Alaska endorsement breaks party lines

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski endorsed Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins for governor of Alaska on Tuesday, backing the former state lawmaker over three Republicans in a ranked-choice race to replace term-limited Governor Mike Dunleavy. The Murkowski Alaska endorsement landed a week before the November 3 election, and it put the state's senior senator on the opposite side from President Donald Trump, who has backed Republican Bernadette Wilson.

Murkowski announced her decision in an interview with KTUU, the Anchorage television station, and said Alaska needs a governor able to work with the Legislature. She named the state's fiscal future and energy costs among the problems that need cooperation across party lines, and she said the Dunleavy administration left federal money unused after Washington worked to send it north. According to the station's report, she told interviewers that Kreiss-Tomkins has a view and a perspective Alaska needs right now. The Murkowski Alaska endorsement reflects her argument that a governor who cannot work with lawmakers in Juneau cannot deliver for the state.

The endorsement that crossed generations

Her father joined the break from party ranks the same day. Former senator and governor Frank Murkowski signed an Anchorage Daily News opinion piece with former Democratic governor Tony Knowles and former independent governor Bill Walker, and the three former governors urged voters of every affiliation to support Kreiss-Tomkins. The Murkowski Alaska endorsement from father and daughter on the same day gave the Democrat a coalition that spans parties, and the joint letter stressed a shared commitment to Alaska's future over past disagreements.

Walker told the Juneau Independent that Kreiss-Tomkins talks about fiscal problems while the Republican candidates do not, and he described the Sitka Democrat as a lawmaker who worked across party lines in the state House. Kreiss-Tomkins represented Sitka and nearby communities in the House for a decade and served in a bipartisan coalition there. His running mate is Anchorage Assembly member Zac Johnson, who is running as an independent. He has pledged to include Republicans and independents in his administration if elected, and he said he was honored to have the senator's support.

A divided Republican field and a Democratic lead

The Murkowski Alaska endorsement carries weight because the Republican vote is divided three ways. Wilson, the Trump-backed candidate, faces former Anchorage mayor Dave Bronson and former attorney general Treg Taylor, while Kreiss-Tomkins is the only Democrat on the ballot. Polling has shown him ahead, in part because his opponents split the Republican vote. Wilson dismissed the endorsement, saying Murkowski abandoned Alaska values long ago, and she mocked her rival as "Just Keep Taxing" JKT over his tax positions.

Trump called Murkowski a disgrace to Alaska days before the endorsement, according to Alaska News, and he has urged the Republican candidates to consolidate behind Wilson. The Murkowski Alaska endorsement answers that pressure with a public refusal. It also fits a longer pattern: Murkowski lost a Republican primary in 2010 and won the general election as a write-in candidate, then won reelection in 2022 under ranked-choice voting. She backed Democrat Mary Peltola for the House in two races, and earlier this year she endorsed fellow Republican Dan Sullivan for reelection, a seat Peltola is now contesting.

What happens next depends on ranked-choice counting. If no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes, the lowest finishers are eliminated and their voters' next choices are counted until someone passes half. The Murkowski Alaska endorsement could move independent voters, who make up about 63 percent of registered voters in Alaska, according to the state Division of Elections. That bloc has decided statewide races before, and both campaigns have spent the closing days pitching it directly.

Murkowski is up for reelection in 2028 and has not announced whether she will seek another term. The Murkowski Alaska endorsement will be read by some as a sign of her plans, but Alaska observers quoted in coverage of the race cautioned against that reading and called it frustration with the outgoing administration instead. Voters decide the governor's race next week, and the result will show whether a cross-party endorsement still moves votes in a state where party labels often matter less than local loyalties.

Sources: Juneau Empire and Washington Examiner reported the endorsement and the former governors' joint letter.