The top four gubernatorial candidates from Alaska’s nonpartisan primary election on Tuesday (8-18-26) will advance to the general election this November. Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who was born and raised in Sitka, leads the field with roughly 22% of votes. Preliminary results show 55% of Sitkans who turned out on Tuesday voted for him.
Kreiss-Tomkins is a former state representative who won his first election to the state House when he was 23. He represented his hometown and rural communities in Southeast Alaska for a decade.
KCAW’s Lauren Salemo talked with Kreiss-Tomkins on Wednesday to hear his reaction to the primary results and next steps as a candidate for governor.
TRANSCRIPT:
KCAW: How do you feel about leading the primary election results for governor?
KREISS-TOMKINS: We feel fantastic. We’re really proud of the results. It’s a team effort. Had an incredible volunteer grassroots operation across Alaska, and to see the numbers come in and reflect that just makes us all feel incredibly proud.
KCAW: And what do you think these results show?
KREISS-TOMKINS: I think Alaskans want new energy, new leadership, new ideas. They want to put the Dunleavy era in the rearview mirror, and we’re excited to be a part of that turning of the page.
KCAW: You’ve gotten through the primary. So what does this next push look like to get Alaskans to vote for you in the general election?
KREISS-TOMKINS: We’re feeling optimistic about our position, and also important to sort of see what the final numbers look like. From the very first day, wanting to build a campaign that is for all Alaskans — Democrats, Independents, Republicans alike — and I think we’re really going to focus on bringing that message home in the coming month.
KCAW: And I’m curious, how has being from Sitka influenced your trajectory toward this moment?
KREISS-TOMKINS: Sitka gave me a lot of the values that I have as a person, as an elected official, now as a candidate for governor. I’m incredibly grateful for that, and it was nothing less than moving to see the margins out of Sitka and from my old House district. On a personal level, it is deeply moving, and I’m incredibly grateful for that support from the people who know me best, and it’s just a tremendous vote of confidence that I don’t take for granted.
KCAW: I know that you are a candidate for governor for the state of Alaska, but if you’re elected, how do you hope to help Sitkans?
KREISS-TOMKINS: I’m pretty familiar with the issues in Sitka and the issues in coastal Alaska. Whether it’s the ferry system or fisheries, supporting the native community, that’s all near and dear to me, and those are issues that I championed for 10 years as a legislator, and are going to be core priorities for our administration were we to be elected this November.
KCAW: Do you have anything else that you’d either like Sitkans to know about this push forward or about last night’s primary results?
KREISS-TOMKINS: Really really grateful for the breadth of our campaign. We won communities as diverse as Kotzebue and Dillingham. We won the Kenai Peninsula. We basically drew even in Anchorage. So really proud of the statewide breadth of our support and all the volunteers in every corner of Alaska who were part of it. We were the campaign with the most Alaska donors from the most parts of Alaska, and I think that grassroots support really manifested last night in the result. Just seeing the support in Sitka and in House District Two — and really all of Southeast Alaska — just means the world, and it’s very material. I mean, the reason we are number one with votes counted right now is having such a just astounding margin at home, and I don’t think there’s another candidate in the field who can point at margins that significant in any one community, much less their home community, and so we’re we’re just so grateful to have Sitka have our back.
