By SUZANNE DOWNING
Oct. 24, 2026 – Gun Owners of America has endorsed Bernadette Wilson for governor of Alaska, placing her first in its recommended ranking of the three Republican candidates competing in the Nov. 3 general election.
The gun rights organization, which also endorsed Congressman Nick Begich earlier this year, cited Wilson’s support for the right to keep and bear arms, constitutional freedoms, individual liberty, and limited government.
Wilson was the highest-finishing Republican in Alaska’s August primary. GOA also expressed support for the Second Amendment positions of fellow Republicans Dave Bronson and Treg Taylor, urging gun owners to rank all three rather than mark only a first choice.
The organization’s recommended order is:
- Bernadette Wilson
- Dave Bronson
- Treg Taylor
The endorsement comes with a warning about how Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system could affect the outcome of the governor’s race, which also includes Democrat Jonathan “JKT” Kreiss-Tomkins. GOA characterized JKT as opposed to Second Amendment rights and warned that ballots without additional conservative rankings could leave gun owners without a vote in the final deciding round of ranked-choice voting.
Although GOA opposes ranked-choice voting, the organization emphasized that voters must understand the system governing this election.
Under Alaska’s system, a voter’s ballot initially counts toward the candidate marked as the first choice. If no candidate receives a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and ballots for that candidate transfer to the next highest-ranked candidate still competing. The process continues until a candidate wins a majority of the votes remaining in the count.
For voters following GOA’s recommendation, their ballots would initially count for Wilson. If she were eliminated, those ballots could transfer to Bronson if he remained in contention, or to Taylor if Bronson had already been eliminated.
A ballot with only one candidate ranked cannot transfer if that candidate is eliminated. It would no longer count toward the outcome of the governor’s race, although votes in other contests would remain unaffected.
GOA’s message is that ranking additional candidates provides a way for gun owners to continue participating in later rounds if their preferred candidate does not advance.
The Gun Owners of America endorsement joins that of President Donald Trump, Congressman Nick Begich, Gov. Sarah Sanders-Huckabee, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Rep. Byron Donalds, Turning Point USA, and others who are backing Bernadette Wilson for governor.
The organization has also endorsed Garret Nelson for House District 29 and Rebecca Schwanke for House District 36, and Senator Cathy Tilton for Senate Seat M.
Those endorsements join its previously announced support for Rep. Jamie Allard in House District 23.
Alaska’s general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. State and federal general election contests will be conducted using ranked-choice voting. Early voting continues through Nov. 2.
