Murkowski, a Georgetown alumna, endorses Democrat Kreiss-Tomkins for Alaska governor

By Helena Thorncroft

WASHINGTON — Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican and Georgetown economics graduate, endorsed Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins for governor of Alaska on Tuesday, a week before a ranked-choice general election in which three Republicans are splitting the GOP vote.

“Our future is too important to be hamstrung by partisan divisions,” Murkowski said in a statement released by the Kreiss-Tomkins campaign, Alaska Public Media reported. “Jonathan understands that governing requires listening to people with different perspectives and finding common ground to solve the problems all of us face.”

The endorsement puts Murkowski on the other side of the race from President Trump, who has endorsed Republican Bernadette Wilson. In an Oct. 22 Truth Social post, Trump gave Wilson his “Complete and Total Endorsement” and argued that the other Republicans in the race were only dividing the party’s voters: “all Bronson and Taylor will do is take away Votes.”

Kreiss-Tomkins, a former state House member from Sitka, faces Wilson, former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and former Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor in the race to succeed Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is term-limited, according to the Alaska Beacon. The NBC News Decision Desk rates the race as leaning Democratic.

‘Work with the legislature’

Murkowski first disclosed her decision in an interview with KTUU-TV. “We need a governor who’s going to work with the legislature,” she told the station, Alaska’s News Source reported. “That has got to happen for the delegation to be successful back in Washington DC.” She called Kreiss-Tomkins “a young Alaskan with a view and a perspective that I think Alaska needs right now.”

Kreiss-Tomkins told KTUU he was grateful. “I have a lot of respect for Lisa, her integrity,” he said, according to NBC News. “I think she’s worked across the aisle in Congress, which is a quality I really admire and hope to live up to if I’m elected governor.”

The senator is not the only prominent Republican to back him. Her father, former Sen. and Gov. Frank Murkowski, joined former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles and former independent Gov. Bill Walker in an op-ed endorsing Kreiss-Tomkins on Tuesday, the Alaska Beacon reported. Murkowski has also endorsed the re-election of her Republican colleague, Sen. Dan Sullivan, the Beacon noted.

The Georgetown connection

Murkowski earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Georgetown University in 1980, according to her official Senate biography. She was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, the Beacon noted. Georgetown has no role in the race.

The Inquisitor is seeking comment from Murkowski’s office, the Kreiss-Tomkins campaign, the Wilson campaign and the White House. This story will be updated with any response.

Photo: Lisa Murkowski, official portrait (cropped). United States Senate Photo Office, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.