For the first time since 1998: Democrat wins gubernatorial election in Alaska

Washington/Juneau. For the first time since 1998, the Democrats won the gubernatorial election in the US state of Alaska. 37-year-old Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins prevailed against three Republican candidates, as the AP news agency reported based on the vote counts. He will be the youngest governor in the history of Alaska, the northwesternmost state in the United States.

With the election victory, the Democrats will occupy 30 of the 50 governorships in the USA - more than ever since 1993. This means they are in the majority again for the first time since 2010. Around three quarters of the US population will then live in states with Democratic governors.

Kreiss-Tomkins received about 51 percent of the first-preference vote, according to preliminary results. In Alaska, voters can select multiple candidates in order of preference. Among his three Republican competitors was Bernadette Wilson, supported by President Donald Trump. The Republican US Senator Lisa Murkowski, however, surprisingly spoke out in favor of Kreiss-Tomkins.

The Democrat had previously been a member of the Alaska House of Representatives for around ten years. He succeeds Republican Mike Dunleavy, who was not allowed to run again after two terms.