Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski has endorsed the Democrat candidate running to flip Alaska’s governor’s office from red to blue as her party fights for its life headed into the midterms.
Murkowski said Tuesday she would back Democrat gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins over leading Republican candidate Bernadette Wilson. She made the announcement one week before Election Day as Republicans try to keep the governor’s mansion and Murkowski’s colleague Senator Dan Sullivan faces a competitive challenge.
Murkowski told KTUU that Kreiss-Tomkins had “a view and a perspective that I think Alaska needs right now.”
“We need a governor who’s going to work with the legislature,” she said. “That has got to happen for the delegation to be successful back in Washington, D.C.”
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Kreiss-Tomkins is the lone Democrat to appear on the state’s ranked-choice ballot alongside three Republicans, including Wilson, former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson, and former state Attorney General Treg Taylor. They are running to replace term-limited Governor Mike Dunleavy.
“I have found fault. I have found fault with the Dunleavy administration,” Murkowski said. “I think that they have left federal money on the table. I think in certain areas, where we have worked hard to put opportunities from the federal side, here, into the state, the state has failed with it.”
Kreiss-Tomkins said he would model himself after Murkowski if he became governor.
“I have a lot of respect for Lisa, her integrity. I think she’s worked across the aisle in Congress, which is a quality I really admire and hope to live up to if I’m elected governor,” he said. “And I’m very grateful that she wanted to step up and be a part of the coalition that we’re building.”
Wilson, the top Republican vote-getter in the Alaska primary, was endorsed by President Donald Trump. She said she was not surprised Murkowski would endorse her Democratic opponent.
“Given that Senator Lisa Murkowski abandoned Alaska values a long time ago, I am not surprised that she has endorsed ‘Just Keep Taxing’ JKT. The guy who supports an income tax, wants to double the gas tax, doesn’t support a full PFD, and whose allegiance lies with extreme socialists hellbent on fighting President Trump to the detriment of everyday Alaskans is most certainly aligned with our failing senator,” Wilson said.
Earlier this month, Trump called on Bronson and Taylor to drop out of the race to clear the path for Wilson and avoid the convoluted counting that kicks in if no candidate breaks 50%. The ranked-choice system enacted in 2020 previously helped Murkowski survive a challenge from a conservative challenger and paved the way for a Democrat to hold Alaska’s lone House seat briefly.
“Bernadette Wilson is outstanding. She will make a GREAT Governor. She easily won the Race, and all Bronson and Taylor will do is take away Votes from the Candidate that has, by far, the best chance of winning,” Trump posted on Truth Social on October 13. “Now is the time for all Republicans to unite behind Bernadette to ensure she has a tremendous Victory in November!”
Murkowski’s colleague Sullivan is also facing a difficult re-election bid. He is running against Democrat Mary Peltola, who has branded herself as a moderate, and another candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., who has been dubbed “Decoy Dan” by Republicans.
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