THE ALASKA STORY
Nov. 6, 2026 – Thirty-four Alaska National Guard members are serving in Washington, DC, on a mission Gov. Mike Dunleavy approved at the Trump administration’s request.
But Alaska’s next governor could bring them home, a decision that would fall to Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins if his lead in the governor’s race holds and the Guard members are still deployed when he takes office.
At a Thursday hearing, DC Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who chairs the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, said she plans to send a letter on behalf of the council asking the incoming Democratic governors of Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas to withdraw their states’ Guard members. She said they could act on their first day in office. Alaska was outside the group of five states she named.
Those five states account for 628 Guard members in a Nov. 2 tally from Joint Task Force-District of Columbia published by Free DC, a group campaigning for the withdrawal.
Georgia had 514 and Iowa had 110. Ohio had two, and Nevada and Texas had one each. Alaska’s 34 made up about 1% of the 3,098 personnel listed in the tally, which included 757 members of the D.C. National Guard.
Under Title 32, the federal government can fund National Guard duty requested by the president or defense secretary while state Guard members remain under state command. As long as Alaska’s personnel serve under that authority, the governor can direct their return, with the timing and logistics subject to coordination with federal officials. The D.C. National Guard answers to the president.
Dunleavy approved the Army secretary’s request last November, Alaska initially planned a March activation and later moved the target to May, the Alaska Beacon reported. By June, the Alaska National Guard said 27 of its soldiers and airmen were supporting the DC task force, with 13 more volunteering for events tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Kreiss-Tomkins, a former state representative, had 103,837 first-choice votes, or 49.1%, in the reported count. Republican Bernadette Wilson was second at 29.2%, followed by Republican spoiler Dave Bronson at 14.2% and Treg Taylor at 7.5%.
If no candidate secures a majority of first choices once those ballots are counted, the race goes to ranked-choice rounds. A win would make Kreiss-Tomkins the first Democrat elected Alaska governor since Tony Knowles in 1998. Kreiss-Tomkins has yet to publicly say whether he would recall the Alaska contingent.
Trump ordered the DC Guard mobilized in August 2025 after declaring a crime emergency. The mission is slated to run through January 2029, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently authorized the Guard to use additional equipment, including boats, Humvees and marked patrol cars.
