By SUZANNE DOWNING
Nov. 7, 2026 – Four days after the general election, Alaska’s election results are is still in ranked-choice paralysis for some races, but the deadline for changing governors is already fixed: noon on Monday, Dec. 7.
With Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins leading the governor’s race, preparations for a possible administration are moving ahead before the results are certified. His campaign said on Friday that he and his running mate would continue preparing for the transition as additional returns are reported.
Reports that Kreiss-Tomkins has begun assembling a cabinet fit that compressed schedule.
Whoever wins will have to move quickly. Alaska’s Constitution gives the incoming governor an early December start, and state law puts a major budget deadline just eight days later.
This will be Alaska’s first change of governors since ranked-choice voting debuted in 2022. That election returned Gov. Mike Dunleavy to office, so it did not require handing executive authority to a different governor.
Article III, Section 4 of the Alaska Constitution establishes a four-year gubernatorial term beginning at noon on the first Monday in December following the election. This year, that date is Dec. 7.
The election calendar leaves little room between final results and taking office.
The Division of Elections says ranked-choice results will not be available until Nov. 18, after eligible ballots have been reviewed and counted. Its target date for certification is Nov. 25 — just 12 days before inauguration. There is also a period after that during which losers may challenge the results or call for a recount.
If a gubernatorial candidate finishes with a majority of first-choice votes, the governor’s race will not need ranked-choice tabulation. If nobody does, subsequent rounds will determine the winner, who will have to have 50% plus one vote of the smaller pool of voters.
That uncertainty can shorten the period in which an incoming administration can plan with confidence.
Incoming governors typically designate transition leaders, usually called a transition chairman, and must recruit a chief of staff and department commissioners, deputy commissioners and executive team, and review the outgoing administration’s projects, finances, and pending decisions. Transition policy groups are often created to turn campaign promises into proposals for the first legislative session.
Meanwhile, the outgoing Dunleavy Administration continues governing. Agencies must maintain public safety, benefits, transportation and other services while preparing records and briefings for new leadership, all the while experiencing an outflow of key executives who will leave state service and find new work. There is a churn already under way as political appointees look for safe landings.
Cabinet selections also involve the Legislature. Under Article III, Section 25, principal department heads are appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by a majority of legislators meeting in joint session. The Constitution also permits appointments to fill vacancies while the Legislature is in recess.
Alaska’s last change of governors came in 2018, when Dunleavy succeeded independent Gov. Bill Walker.
Walker had suspended his reelection campaign in October and endorsed Democrat Mark Begich, although Walker’s name remained on the ballot. Begich conceded to Dunleavy the morning after the Nov. 6 election, giving the incoming Republican administration a start on its transition.
Tuckerman Babcock chaired Dunleavy’s transition team, which team requested resignation letters from most of the at-will employees. The request did not mean every resignation would be accepted. Employees could express interest in remaining, with resignations effective upon acceptance by the new administration.
Classified employees are different. They are the workers who retain their jobs through a change of governors.
The next governor’s first major deadline will arrive almost immediately.
The governor’s proposed budget is due Dec. 15. Because the new administration takes office Dec. 7, responsibility for that submission rests with the incoming governor.
The 2018 transition illustrates how that can work. On Dec. 14, Dunleavy’s administration submitted the Walker administration’s proposed budget to meet the statutory deadline, while announcing it would revise the plan in the new year.
The December proposal is therefore an opening submission, subject to subsequent amendments and legislative decisions.
