State executive race · November 3, 2026

Governor

The governor is Alaska's chief executive, proposes the state budget, can veto legislation and line-item veto appropriations, and appoints department heads.

4-year term. Open seat: no incumbent is running. Open seat: Gov. Mike Dunleavy is term-limited. The governor and lieutenant governor run as a joint ticket in a ranked-choice general election after a nonpartisan top-four primary. Second-place primary finisher Tom Begich (Democrat) announced his withdrawal on Aug. 28, 2026. Fifth-place finisher Treg Taylor took the open spot after Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom first ruled him ineligible over a financial disclosure filing and then, on Sept. 4, certified him. Certified write-in ticket: James W. "JP4" Parkin / Ramadhani "Ram" Greer.

The candidates

Listed alphabetically by last name.

  • Dave Bronson

    Former Mayor of Anchorage; retired commercial airline pilot
    Republican

    Running mate: Josh Church (Lieutenant Governor)

    Dave Bronson is a Republican who served as mayor of Anchorage from 2021 to 2024 and is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and commercial airline captain. His campaign focuses on resource development, roads and infrastructure, housing on state land, and changes to the Permanent Fund, and he opposes new taxes.

  • Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins

    Former state representative; business owner
    Democratic

    Running mate: Zac Johnson (Lieutenant Governor; registered Nonpartisan)

    Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, known as JKT, is a Democrat from Sitka who served in the Alaska House from 2013 to 2023, where he was part of a bipartisan coalition majority. He finished first in the August primary. His campaign focuses on public school funding, fisheries and lowering everyday costs.

  • Treg Taylor

    Former Alaska Attorney General
    Republican

    Running mate: Candi English (Lieutenant Governor)

    Treg Taylor is a Republican who served as Alaska's attorney general under Gov. Mike Dunleavy from 2021 to 2025, after leading the Department of Law's civil division. His campaign emphasizes resource development, lower energy costs, public safety and a constitutionally protected Permanent Fund Dividend.

  • Bernadette M. Wilson

    Owner, Denali Disposal (Anchorage refuse company)
    Republican

    Running mate: Michael K. Shower (Lieutenant Governor)

    Bernadette Wilson is a Republican business owner from Anchorage making her first run for public office. She owns an Anchorage garbage-hauling company and has worked as a radio host and with Americans for Prosperity and the Alaska Policy Forum. Her campaign centers on paying the full statutory Permanent Fund Dividend, resource development and limiting state spending.

Compare on the issues

Summaries of each candidate's stated positions. See each profile for sources and details.

Candidate positions by issue for Governor
IssueDave Bronson
Republican
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
Democratic
Treg Taylor
Republican
Bernadette M. Wilson
Republican
Education

Says he would fully fund education while demanding better results, saying Alaska has both a funding problem and a quality-of-education problem; proposes a workforce-focused "AK 10/10" education plan.

Supports fully funding public schools and a constitutional amendment to forward-fund education; supports removing cell phones from classrooms.

Says his first bill would forward-fund K-12 schools and restore accountability provisions to the Alaska Reads Act; supports correspondence programs.

Opposes further base student allocation increases without measurable results; names education savings accounts and "No More Lines" open enrollment as models.

Energy & Environment

Supports a gas pipeline and a second Cook Inlet drilling rig, and says the state should stop "attacking" companies like Hilcorp.

Supports incentives for Cook Inlet gas, a gas pipeline and renewables; supports a moratorium on new data centers until the Legislature passes rules for them.

Supports Cook Inlet gas incentives, a gas line and expanded energy, mining and timber development.

Supports the Alaska LNG gas line, Ambler Road, ANWR and NPR-A development, and a "shot clock" on permitting timelines.

Permanent Fund Dividend

Says the dividend cannot be paid from cuts or taxes alone and points to Permanent Fund returns; says no formula will settle the issue until the fund grows to about $115–120 billion, and proposes reforming the fund under a "modern endowment model."

Opposes paying large dividends by drawing down the Permanent Fund, backs a smaller sustainable dividend, and proposes a constitutional amendment to protect the fund.

Proposes a constitutional amendment locking in a dividend formula tied to oil revenue, and says he would pay the largest PFD the state can afford.

Supports paying the dividend under the statutory formula and says the governor must ensure the law is followed.

Taxes

Opposes new taxes.

Wants all oil and gas producers, including Hilcorp, to pay state corporate income tax, and proposes a tax on second homes owned by nonresidents.

Opposes tax increases and says Alaska should grow its economy instead.

Opposes new taxes and says Alaska has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

Economy & Jobs

Supports opening access to Alaska land and resources, including roads to mining districts, and says federal regulation has stalled development.

Supports returning to a defined-benefit pension system for state workers and teachers.

No public position found yet

Supports a spending cap, zero-based budgeting and audits of state agencies to find savings.

Fisheries

Lists ending "destructive trawling in Alaska" among his policy priorities.

Supports limits on trawl bycatch and opposes the Pebble Mine.

Supports ending trawling practices that damage seabeds and giving Alaska a unified voice on the federal fishery council.

No public position found yet
Elections & Democracy

Says his first bill would focus on regulatory and election reform.

No public position found yetNo public position found yet

Is one of three main sponsors of the latest effort to repeal ranked-choice voting, and proposes ending automatic voter registration through PFD applications.

AbortionNo public position found yet

Supports abortion rights and access to contraception.

No public position found yetNo public position found yet
GunsNo public position found yetNo public position found yet

Says he would oppose federal efforts to restrict gun owners and defended Second Amendment rights as attorney general.

No public position found yet
Health CareNo public position found yet

Supports protecting Medicaid expansion and expanding telehealth.

No public position found yetNo public position found yet
Housing

Supports securing state control of Alaska land and using it to make housing attainable.

No public position found yetNo public position found yetNo public position found yet
Public SafetyNo public position found yetNo public position found yet

Cites a law he backed allowing drug dealers to be charged with murder in fatal overdoses, and says he would continue crime enforcement.

No public position found yet

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