The 2018 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Alaska. In the primaries for recognized political parties, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately. The winners of each respective primary for governor and lieutenant governor then become a joint ticket in the general election for their political party. Incumbent Independent Governor Bill Walker was seeking re-election in what was originally a three-way race between Walker, Republican former Alaska state senator Mike Dunleavy, and Democratic former Alaska U.S. Senator Mark Begich. Despite Walker dropping out on October 19, 2018, and endorsing Begich, Dunleavy won in what was the only gubernatorial gain by a Republican candidate in 2018. Walker later unsuccessfully ran for governor of Alaska in 2022.
This was the only independent-held governorship up for election in a state that Donald Trump won in the 2016 presidential election.
Independents
Governor
Withdrew
- Bill Walker (Independent), incumbent governor
Lieutenant governor
Withdrew
- Valerie Davidson (Independent), incumbent lieutenant governor since October 16
- Byron Mallott (Democratic), incumbent lieutenant governor until October 16
Democratic–Libertarian–Independence primary
Candidates from the Alaska Democratic Party, Alaska Libertarian Party and Alaskan Independence Party appear on the same ballot, with the highest-placed candidate from each party receiving that party's nomination. In October 2017 the AKDP sued for the right to allow non-Democrats to compete for and win the Democratic nomination, which was ultimately decided in their favor in April 2018. This move was widely thought to benefit incumbent Gov. Bill Walker, to foreclose the possibility of a Democratic nominee splitting the vote with Walker against a Republican nominee. However, with the entry of former senator Mark Begich into the race, Walker withdrew from the Democratic primary and forged ahead with a fully independent bid for reelection.
Governor
Declared
- Mark Begich (Democratic), former U.S. senator
- William S. "Billy" Toien (Libertarian), Libertarian candidate for Alaska governor in 2010
Lieutenant governor
Declared
- Debra Call (Democratic), Cook Inlet Tribal Council Board of Directors representative
Withdrawn
- Edgar Blatchford (Democratic), former mayor of Seward
Republican primary
Governor
Nominated
- Mike Dunleavy, educator and former state senator
Eliminated in primary
- Dorian Colbry
- Thomas A. "Tom" Gordon
- Gerald Heikes, perennial candidate
- Merica Hlatcu
- Michael Sheldon
- Mead Treadwell, former lieutenant governor
Withdrawn
- Mike Chenault, state representative and former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives
- Scott Hawkins, businessman
Declined
- Robert Gillam, businessman
- Loren Leman, former lieutenant governor
- Anna MacKinnon, state senator (endorsed Mike Dunleavy)
- Peter Micciche, state senator (running for re-election to state senate)
- Joe Miller, former magistrate judge and perennial candidate
- Frank Murkowski, former governor of Alaska and U.S. Senator
- Sean Parnell, former governor of Alaska (endorsed Mike Dunleavy)
- Ben Stevens, former president of the Alaska State Senate, son of former president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, Solicitor of the Interior Department & U.S. Attorney Ted Stevens
- Dan Sullivan, former mayor of Anchorage and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2014 (endorsed Mike Dunleavy)
- Bill Walker, incumbent Independent governor (running for re-election as an independent)
Lieutenant governor
Declared
- Lynn Gattis, former state representative and candidate for the state senate in 2016
- Edie Grunwald, retired Air Force colonel and former human resources director for the Alaska National Guard
- Sharon Jackson, activist and former congressional staffer
- Kevin Meyer, state senator and former president of the Alaska Senate
- Gary Stevens, state senator
- Stephen Wright, Air Force veteran
Declined
- Glen Thompson, Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assemblyman
- David Wilson, state senator
General election
Campaign
Independent candidate and incumbent governor Bill Walker announced on October 19 that he was suspending his campaign and endorsing Mark Begich, three days after Walker's running mate and incumbent lieutenant governor Byron Mallott resigned from office (and amid low polling numbers just three weeks before election day). However, Walker and Mallott still remained on the ballot, as the deadline to withdraw was September 4.
Endorsements
Mark Begich (D)
Mike Dunleavy (R)
- Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States
- Lisa Murkowski, U.S. senator
- Dan S. Sullivan, U.S. senator
- Don Young, U.S. congressman
- Anna MacKinnon, state senator
- Sean Parnell, former governor of Alaska
- Dick Randolph, former state representative
- Craig Richards, former Alaska attorney general
- Dan Sullivan, former Anchorage mayor
- Mead Treadwell, former lieutenant governor of Alaska
- Joseph Ralston, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Mao Tosi, former NFL Arizona Cardinals defensive back
- Alaska Forestry Association
- Alaska Outdoor Council
- Alaska's Public Safety Employees Association
- National Rifle Association of America
- Sportsmen's Conservation Alliance
- Arctic Slope Regional Corporation
- Calista Corporation
Polling
with Bill Walker (campaign suspended), Mike Dunleavy, and Mark Begich
%support010203040506/15/20188/16/201810/12/201810/29/2018DunleavyBegichWalkerToienOther/UndecidedOpinion polling for the 2018 Alaska gubernat...
with Mark Begich and Mike Dunleavy
Results
Boroughs and census areas that flipped from Independent to Republican
- Denali Borough (largest city: Healy)
- Fairbanks North Star (largest city: Fairbanks)
- Petersburg
- Valdez–Cordova Census Area (largest city: Valdez)
Boroughs and census areas that flipped from Independent to Democratic
- Aleutians West Census Area (largest city: Unalaska)
- Anchorage
- Bethel Census Area (largest city: Bethel)
- Kusilvak Census Area (largest city: Hooper Bay)
- Nome Census Area (largest city: Nome)
- Dilingham Census Area (largest city: Dilingham)
- Kodiak Island (largest city: Kodiak Island)
- Lake & Peninsula Borough (largest city: Newhalen)
- North Slope Borough (largest city: Utqiaġvik)
- Northwest Arctic Borough (largest city: Kotzebue)
- Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area (largest city: Craig)
- Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area (largest city: Fort Yukon)
- Juneau
- Sitka
- Skagway
- Hoonah–Angoon Census Area (largest town: Hoonah)
- Haines Borough (largest census-designated place: Haines)
- Yakutat
Boroughs and census areas that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Aleutians East Borough (largest city: Akutan)
- Bristol Bay Borough (largest city: Naknek)