Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski waded into Alaska’s race for governor this week, endorsing the Democrat over the three Republicans.
Murkowski, a moderate, said Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins is the right candidate to tackle big issues that have persisted over the past eight years under Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy, who has hit his term limit, has often clashed with Alaska’s bipartisan and multipartisan majorities in the Legislature, leading to a historic number of vetoes during his term.
Everything from the state’s structural budget deficit to energy costs and public school funding has largely been stuck in neutral, with some clashes spilling over into other issues. For example, he vetoed an e-bike bill after the sponsor signed an op-ed critical of his budget vetoes.
For Murkowski, Kreiss-Tomkins—a former legislator and key member of the Legislature’s bipartisan coalitions—would turn the corner on those fights.
“Our future is too important to be hamstrung by partisan divisions,” said Murkowski in a statement released by the Kreiss-Tomkins campaign. “Jonathan understands that governing requires listening to people with different perspectives and finding common ground to solve the problems all of us face. Alaska needs a serious conversation about our fiscal future, as well as a focus on the cost of energy and growing our economy. I believe Jonathan is committed to working toward solutions that serve all Alaskans, regardless of party.”
Murkowski is no stranger to courting votes from across the political aisle.
She has long faced serious challenges from conservative Republicans aligned with President Donald Trump and has weathered those challenges thanks to support from a coalition of moderate Republicans, independent voters and Democrats. She also endorsed Democrat Mary Peltola in her 2024 race, and Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan in this year’s race against Peltola
And Murkowski isn’t the only Republican, nor the only Murkowski, to endorse Kreiss-Tomkins this week.
Her father, former Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski, joined two former governors, independent Bill Walker and Democrat Tony Knowles, in endorsing Kreiss-Tomkins. They also echoed Alaska’s senior senator about Kreiss-Tomkins’ record of working across the aisle.
“Each of us knows firsthand that governing Alaska is no easy task,” they said in an op-ed published Oct. 27 in the Anchorage Daily News. “It requires difficult decisions, sound judgment and the ability to bring people together to respond to the challenges you didn’t see coming. Above all, it requires putting Alaska’s interest ahead of partisan politics.”
Kreiss-Tomkins leads polls in Alaska’s gubernatorial race against three Republicans: former conservative talk radio host Bernadette Wilson, former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and former Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor. The Republicans have struggled to coalesce around a shared strategy heading into the race, instead fighting over who should be the party’s leading candidate.
For their part, the Republican gubernatorial candidates said they were disappointed but not surprised, with Wilson pledging to work to unseat Murkowski if she’s elected.
Bronson, who has tried to distance himself from the Republican field with some nods toward bipartisanship, said ultimately that Murkowski’s “entitled to endorse whoever she chooses, just as President Trump is.”
“I respect that voters will make their own decisions, and I’ll keep making my case directly to them: through my experience, my record of service, and my commitment to Alaska’s future,” he said in a social media post on Oct. 27.
At an Oct. 13 rally in Wasilla, Trump endorsed Wilson while bashing Bronson as not “deserving of it” and Taylor as someone he “never heard of.” While the president called on Bronson and Taylor to get out of the race, they’ve refused.
The situation kept much of the traditional Republican campaign effort—typically big-ticket independent expenditure groups—idle for much of the campaign. The Republican Governor’s Association waited until Sept. 30 to put $1.6 million into the race, far later in the cycle than when it boosted Dunleavy’s campaign in 2022.
According to the latest fundraising numbers, Kreiss-Tomkins raised about $1 million in October alone, more than three times what the Republicans raised that month.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the newsletter on the Alaska Legislature, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Bluesky.
