Democrat wins Alaska governor’s seat for first time in nearly 30 years

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a former state lawmaker, will become Alaska's first Democratic governor since 1998, according to The Associated Press. At the age of 37, he defeated his opponent, Bernadette Wilson, a Republican talk show host and owner of a garbage-collection company. In his victory speech, Mr. Kreiss-Tomkins emphasized that Alaskans had voted for change, promising to tackle the state's problems promptly upon taking office.

The young governor, who hails from Sitka, is a former ultramarathoner and mountaineer. He dropped out of Yale to win his first legislative seat at the age of 23 and spent a decade building bipartisan coalitions, sounding alarms about Alaska's precarious finances. During his campaign, Mr. Kreiss-Tomkins visited all 19 of Alaska's boroughs, making promises to rebuild public education, improve the ferry system, lower housing and energy costs, and protect Alaskan fisheries.

He also pledged to put the state's finances on a more sustainable footing, which may require finding new revenue sources in an oil-rich state without a personal income tax or statewide sales tax.

Kreiss-Tomkins won the election in a state where Democrats make up only 11 percent of the electorate. He crafted a campaign to appeal to moderates and Republicans frustrated with legislative gridlock in the capital, Juneau. In the final stages of the campaign, he garnered endorsements from several Republicans and pledged to appoint a politically balanced transition team and cabinet.

He also promised to live in Juneau, a point of contention for some Alaskans who are tired of governors who essentially commute to the capital from more accessible Anchorage.