Murkowski Endorses Democrat in Alaska Governor Race

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski crossed party lines on October 27, 2026, and Murkowski endorses Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins for governor of Alaska, according to the Juneau Empire's report on the announcement. Murkowski announced the endorsement in an interview with Anchorage station KTUU, according to the Juneau Empire, and she chose Kreiss-Tomkins over three Republican candidates, including Bernadette Wilson, who has President Donald Trump's endorsement. The race will decide who succeeds term-limited Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy, according to the Juneau Empire.

Murkowski framed the choice in the Murkowski endorses Democrat announcement as a judgment about governing, not party loyalty, according to The Hill's report on the endorsement, which was carried by CW7 Arizona. She said Alaska needs a governor prepared to cooperate with lawmakers, and she described the Republican field as too partisan for the job, according to NBC News reporting cited by We Got This Covered. In the KTUU interview, Murkowski said the state needs a governor who is going to "work with the Legislature," according to the Juneau Empire, and she added that such cooperation has to happen for Alaska's delegation to succeed in Washington.

The candidate at the center of the Murkowski endorses Democrat announcement, Kreiss-Tomkins, widely known by the initials JKT, is a former state lawmaker who represented Sitka and surrounding communities in the Alaska House for a decade, according to The Hill's report. He is the only Democrat in the four-way race, according to Alaska's News Source reporting cited by Suara Garut, and he has campaigned on bipartisan cooperation, including a pledge to include Republicans and independents in his administration. Kreiss-Tomkins said he was honored to have Murkowski's support, according to The Hill, and he said Alaskans deserve a government that can work through disagreements and make progress on issues that matter.

Why Murkowski endorses Democrat Kreiss-Tomkins now

Timing explains part of the move, and Murkowski endorses Democrat Kreiss-Tomkins one week before Election Day, when a divided Republican vote could hand the race to the Democrat, according to polling analysis in the Juneau Empire report. A September New York Times/Siena poll put Kreiss-Tomkins at 40 percent among likely voters, according to Alaska's News Source, with Wilson at 20 percent, former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson at 15 percent, and former state Attorney General Treg Taylor at 11 percent. In the Murkowski endorses Democrat race, those figures add up to a Republican field that is splitting its vote three ways, according to the Juneau Empire, and that split is the backdrop for Murkowski's decision to speak publicly now rather than stay quiet.

Alaska's voting system makes the split in the Murkowski endorses Democrat race matter more than it would in a traditional primary state, according to reporting on the race. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting in the general election, according to Rico TV's summary of the contest, and voters rank candidates in order of preference instead of picking only one name. Murkowski herself won reelection under that system in 2022 after losing a Republican primary in 2010 and winning the general election as a write-in candidate, according to Alaska News. That history gives her a direct stake in defending a system that rewards candidates who can appeal beyond one party, according to the same reporting.

Murkowski is not new to crossing party lines, according to Alaska News, and Murkowski endorses Democrat candidates when she judges the candidate rather than the party label. She endorsed Democrat Mary Peltola for the United States House in two recent election cycles, according to Alaska News, and she is backing Republican Senator Dan Sullivan for reelection this year even as Peltola challenges him. That record makes the Kreiss-Tomkins endorsement consistent with her own pattern, according to the reporting, even though it breaks with the national Republican Party in a governor's race Trump has weighed in on directly.

The Trump split inside the Alaska race

In the race where Murkowski endorses Democrat Kreiss-Tomkins, Trump endorsed Wilson earlier in October, according to Alaska News, and he has urged Bronson and Taylor to drop out so the Republican vote does not split. Trump also attacked Murkowski days before her announcement, calling her a disgrace to Alaska and the country, according to Alaska News. Wilson responded to the endorsement by saying Murkowski abandoned Alaska values long ago, according to Alaska News, and Wilson said she campaigned against Murkowski in that earlier write-in race and would work to unseat her if elected governor. Murkowski is next up for reelection in 2028, according to Alaska News, so the governor's race is also a preview of the fight over her own seat.

The endorsement did not come from Murkowski alone, according to the Juneau Empire. Her father, former Senator Frank Murkowski, joined former Democratic Governor Tony Knowles and former independent Governor Bill Walker in endorsing Kreiss-Tomkins through an Anchorage Daily News opinion piece published on the same day, according to the Juneau Empire. The three former governors said they come from different political backgrounds and have not always agreed, according to the Juneau Empire, and they said a shared commitment to Alaska's future brought them together behind Kreiss-Tomkins. Former Republican Governor Sarah Palin has not endorsed any candidate in the race, according to the Juneau Empire, and neither has former Republican Governor Sean Parnell.

For voters, the practical question is what a Kreiss-Tomkins governorship would do differently, and Murkowski endorses Democrat Kreiss-Tomkins partly on fiscal grounds, according to The Hill's report. Murkowski criticized the Dunleavy administration for leaving federal money on the table, according to The Hill, and she said the state failed to use opportunities that federal lawmakers worked to put in place. Kreiss-Tomkins has proposed applying the corporate income tax consistently across major oil producers, taxing online sales, and discussing broader revenue with the Legislature, according to Alaska News, and he has called for a dividend that does not overdraw the Permanent Fund. Those positions will face a Legislature that may still lean Republican, according to the reporting, which is why Murkowski's argument about cooperation matters to the campaign's pitch.

What the endorsement signals for the midterms

Nonpartisan and undeclared voters made up about 63 percent of Alaska's registered voters as of early September, according to the state Division of Elections figures cited by Alaska News, and Murkowski endorses Democrat Kreiss-Tomkins with that electorate in mind. A candidate who can win those voters has a path even in a state that usually votes Republican for president, according to the polling cited in the reporting, and Murkowski's endorsement gives Kreiss-Tomkins a validator who has won statewide as a Republican and as a write-in. The campaign distributed a statement from Murkowski encouraging Alaskans of every political stripe to take a close look at Kreiss-Tomkins and his running mate Zac Johnson, according to Alaska News.

The national picture also matters, since Alaska is one of several states where the midterms are being fought over governing style as much as party, a theme in recent midterm feed coverage from Michigan. Murkowski endorses Democrat Kreiss-Tomkins at a moment when Trump is campaigning hard in swing states, according to national midterm reporting, and a Republican senator publicly backing a Democrat undercuts the idea that party lines will hold everywhere. Whether that helps Kreiss-Tomkins or simply hardens Wilson's base will be answered by voters, not by endorsements, according to the polling analysts cited in the reporting.

There is also a simpler reading that fits Alaska's politics: Murkowski knows the state, and she picked the candidate she thinks can actually govern with the Legislature Alaska elects. The Georgia Senate debate coverage on this site showed how quickly a campaign can turn into a contest about tone, and the Alaska race is turning into a contest about whether tone is a substitute for cooperation. Murkowski's answer is clear, according to her KTUU interview, and it is that a governor who cannot work with lawmakers cannot deliver for the state, whatever party that governor belongs to.

What happens next is straightforward. Voters will rank their choices on November 3, according to Rico TV's summary of the election date, and the ranked-choice count will show whether Murkowski's endorsement moved undeclared voters or merely confirmed what polls already suggested. If Kreiss-Tomkins wins, Murkowski endorses Democrat success will be read as a model for cross-party campaigns in states with large independent electorates, according to the analysis in the reporting. If he loses, the endorsement will be read as proof that even a popular senator cannot override a nationalized midterm, a question that runs through the most expensive midterms coverage as well. Either way, Murkowski has put her name on a choice, and Alaska voters now get to judge it.