Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a Republican, has endorsed Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins for governor of her home state, passing over three Republican candidates one week before Election Day, according to NBC News and Alaska Public Media.
The endorsement puts Murkowski behind the lone Democrat in the race and against Bernadette Wilson, the Republican whom President Donald Trump endorsed this month, NBC News reported. The other Republicans in the four-way race are former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and former state Attorney General Treg Taylor, according to Alaska’s News Source.
Murkowski endorses Democrat in Alaska governor race https://t.co/i88W3r7WmU
— POLITICO (@politico) October 28, 2026
“Our future is too important to be hamstrung by partisan divisions,” Murkowski said in a statement released by the Kreiss-Tomkins campaign, according to Alaska Public Media. “Jonathan understands that governing requires listening to people with different perspectives and finding common ground to solve the problems all of us face.”
Alaska Public Media called the move a “surprise endorsement” and reported that the statement was emailed to reporters by the Kreiss-Tomkins campaign on Tuesday afternoon, after Alaska’s News Source first reported the news earlier that day.
Murkowski says the GOP field is too partisan
In an interview with Anchorage station KTUU, Murkowski praised Kreiss-Tomkins, a former state lawmaker from Sitka who is widely known as JKT. “JKT is a young Alaskan with a view and a perspective that I think Alaska needs right now,” she said, according to NBC News, which also reported that she described him as “a commonsense guy who has a known ability to be working together.”
NBC News reported that Murkowski believes the three Republican candidates on the ballot are too partisan. “We need a governor who’s going to work with the Legislature,” she told KTUU. “That has got to happen for the delegation to be successful back in Washington, D.C.”
A family affair
Murkowski is not the only prominent Republican name backing the Democrat. Alaska Public Media reported that her father, former Gov. Frank Murkowski, endorsed Kreiss-Tomkins earlier in an Anchorage Daily News op-ed co-written with two other former governors, independent Bill Walker and Democrat Tony Knowles. The outlet also reported that several former Republican state legislators support him.
Kreiss-Tomkins told KTUU he was grateful for the senator’s support and said the two had “had a few conversations” during the campaign, according to NBC News.
What it means for Nov. 3
The candidates are competing to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy in next week’s general election, Alaska Public Media reported. Alaska uses ranked choice voting, NBC News noted. A September New York Times/Siena poll found Kreiss-Tomkins leading with 40 percent of likely voters, followed by Wilson at 20 percent, Bronson at 15 percent and Taylor at 11 percent, according to Alaska’s News Source.
The NBC News Decision Desk rates the governor’s race as leaning Democratic, even though Trump carried Alaska in 2016, 2020 and 2024, NBC News reported. The race features three Republicans and one Democrat on the same ranked choice ballot.
NBC News described Murkowski as one of Trump’s more vocal critics among Senate Republicans. Her endorsement drew sharp criticism from conservatives on X, where several accounts accused her of abandoning her party a week before the election.
Sources
Sources cited
- https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/lisa-murkowski-endorses-democrat-alaska-governor-race-rcna606045
- https://alaskapublic.org/news/politics/elections/2026-10-27/murkowski-endorses-democrat-jkt-in-alaska-governors-race
- https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/10/27/sen-murkowski-endorses-democrat-jkt-alaskas-governors-race/
Sources
- Original post: POLITICO (@politico) on X, Oct 28, 2026
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