Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins Wins Alaska Governor Race

Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins has won the election for governor of Alaska, becoming the first Democrat elected to the office since 1998, The Guardian reported. The Associated Press called the race on Friday, ten days after polls closed.

Kreiss-Tomkins, a 37-year-old former state legislator, defeated three Republican opponents. One of them was a candidate backed by Donald Trump. He won more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, which meant he did not need any further ranked-choice rounds. In ranked-choice voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference, and when no one reaches a majority, the lowest-placed candidates are dropped and their votes are reassigned to the voters' next choices.

He succeeds Mike Dunleavy, a Republican who served eight years as governor.

Kreiss-Tomkins campaigned on ensuring full funding for public education. He has proposed requiring all oil and gas producers to pay corporate income taxes, a tax on company profits. He has also pushed for a temporary halt to new datacenter developments until lawmakers set rules for their construction. He has pledged to assemble a cabinet that includes Democrats, Republicans and independents.

The result adds to a national picture of governor races. Following the Alaska victory, Democrats hold 30 US governorships, according to the same report. Democrats have also taken control of governor's offices in Iowa, Georgia, Ohio and Texas.

In Kansas, Democratic state senator Cindy Holscher defeated Republican state senate president Ty Masterson, who had received Trump's endorsement.