2026 Alaska Governor Election
Compare candidates’ positions, polling, and sourced race updates.
Ranked-choice general election
Alaska's top-four primary sent up to four candidates to this ballot, and the general election uses ranked-choice voting: you may rank the candidates in order of preference. If no one wins a majority of first choices, the last-place candidate is eliminated and those ballots count for their next choice, until one candidate has a majority.
About this race
Alaska will elect a governor and lieutenant governor to a four-year term on November 3, 2026, in an open-seat contest because Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy is term-limited. Under the state's top-four primary and ranked-choice voting system, the August 18 nonpartisan primary advanced Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Republicans Bernadette Wilson, Dave Bronson and Treg Taylor; Taylor was briefly disqualified over financial-disclosure questions before Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom reversed that decision and certified his nomination on September 4.
The ranked-choice general election therefore features one Democrat and three Republicans, with candidates divided over whether voters should rank multiple Republicans and over fisheries, resource development, budget policy and election-system reform. Alaska's candidates have also made the seafood economy, salmon bycatch and coastal infrastructure prominent campaign issues, while Ballot Measure 2 would repeal the state's top-four ranked-choice system if approved.
Candidates
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Dave Bronson is a Republican, former one-term mayor of Anchorage and a former U.S. Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Alaska Air National Guard officer who worked as a commercial pilot. He finished third among the four general-election candidates in the August 18 primary with 8.1% and campaigns on resource development, infrastructure, housing, government reform and protecting the Permanent Fund dividend. Bronson has remained in the race despite calls for Republican consolidation and, like the other finalists, was identified in a preliminary state review as having potential financial-disclosure issues that did not by themselves establish a violation.
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins is a Democrat and former Alaska state representative who represented Sitka and rural Southeast communities for 10 years. He won the August 18 open primary with 22.5%; after second-place finisher Tom Begich withdrew and endorsed him, Kreiss-Tomkins became the sole Democrat in the general election against three Republicans. His campaign emphasizes bipartisan governance, public education, rural and coastal communities, fisheries and a regulated approach to data-center development.
Treg Taylor is a Republican attorney who served as Alaska's attorney general from 2021 to 2025, the third-longest-serving in state history. He placed fifth in the August 2026 nonpartisan primary but advanced to the general election after a Democratic candidate withdrew; he was briefly disqualified over financial-disclosure omissions before Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom reversed that decision and certified him on September 4. He campaigns on resource development, public safety, education accountability and cutting regulatory delays, and while he opposes Alaska's ranked-choice voting system, he has urged Republicans to rank candidates to avoid a Democratic win.
Bernadette Wilson is a Republican Anchorage business owner, conservative activist and former talk-radio host who owns Denali Disposal; she has not previously held elective office. She finished as the top Republican in the August 18 primary with 10% of the vote and campaigns on spending reductions, resource development and a full statutory Permanent Fund dividend. Wilson opposes ranked-choice voting and has urged Republicans to coordinate their rankings, while her campaign has also faced questions arising from a preliminary review of candidate financial disclosures.
Forecast
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins favored
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins: 76% modeled win probability with a +6.5 pts estimated margin
Polling
6 polls, newest firstAbout this research
Data compiled from public sources and analyzed using AI. Last updated October 10, 2026. Visit candidate websites for the most current information.