Former state rep tops ranked-choice slugfest as Alaska advances nominees for governor

Seventeen governor -lieutenant governor candidate pairs battled Tuesday to make the primary cutoff and advance to the November general election to succeed term-limited Republican Gov.

Michael Dunleavy.

Former state Rep.

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and running mate Zac Johnson finished first, while former Democratic state Sen.

Tom Begich and Julia Hnilicks finished second.

They will advance to the November general election, alongside two more winning governor-lieutenant governor pairs.

Several major political names were among the 34 candidates on the ballot for the two executive offices.

The frontrunner heading into Tuesday’s contest was Begich, whose family has been involved in Alaska politics nearly since the Last Frontier achieved statehood.

COURT KEEPS ‘DECOY DAN’ ON ALASKA BALLOT AS EXPERT WARNS RANKED-CHOICE SYSTEM CREATES VOTER ‘TRAPS’ Tom Begich’s father, Rep.

Nick Begich Sr., D-Alaska, served in the state and federal legislatures from 1962 until a plane carrying him and House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, D-La., disappeared during a flight through the Inside Passage between Anchorage and Juneau.

Tom Begich’s brother, Mark, was a longtime U.S. senator from Alaska, and most of the family members are Democrats — except incumbent Rep.

Nick Begich III, R-Alaska.

Business owner Bernadette Wilson is among the leading Republicans in the nonpartisan primary.

Wilson grew up on the Kenai, and her family has lived in Alaska for generations.