Kreiss-Tomkins above 50%, Peltola’s lead grows to 2.3% with 88% of expected ballots tallied

Democratic candidate for governor passes threshold to avoid ranked-choice runoff; Peltola still short of majority with 49.1%-46.8% edge over US Sen. Dan Sullivan

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a Democrat running for governor, at right, speaks to people outside Centennial Hall on June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins now has a majority of first-choice votes and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola saw her lead further expand over incumbent Republican Dan S. Sullivan in results released by the Alaska Division of Elections on Thursday night.

Kreiss-Tomkins, a former Sitka state legislator, has 50.05% of ballots tallied. If he remains above 50% he will avoid the state’s ranked choice process that will occur on Nov. 18 for candidate races where no person has a majority.

He is far ahead of three Republican challengers, with Anchorage business owner Bernadette Wilson tops among them at 28.67%, and being talked about by state legislators in both parties as the presumptive winner. CNN is projecting him as the winner, but the Associated Press has not yet called the race.

Peltola, a former U.S. House member from Bethel, is ahead of Sullivan 49.08% to 46.8%, continuing a steady increase from the 0.3% lead she had the day after the Nov. 3 general election. The Associated Press estimates 88% of ballots cast have been tallied as of Thursday night and the remaining votes are mostly from remote areas also expected to be favorable to Peltola.

Her 2.3% lead well exceeds the 1.65% of votes for retired Petersburg teacher Dan J. Sullivan. His candidacy has been targeted by a Trump administration lawsuit seeking to halt certification of the election if Peltola wins by fewer voters than the Petersburg resident receives, based on allegations he was recruited by the Peltola campaign to confuse voters.

In the other statewide race, Republican U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III at 48.55% remains well ahead of independent Bill Hill at 41.15%. Federal prison inmate Eric Hafner, running as a Democrat, has 7.5% and Libertarian Jim McDermott. 2.65%. Unofficial candidate rankings on ballots available so far from the Division of Election show Begich likely to prevail if he doesn’t get a majority of first-choice votes.

Thursday night’s results are for 256,823 ballots, representing 42.42% of registered voters. More results are expected to be released Friday.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.