Mike Dunleavy

Mike Dunleavy (Republican Party) is the Governor of Alaska. He assumed office on December 3, 2018. His current term ends on December 7, 2026.

Dunleavy was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1961 and moved to Alaska in 1983.^[1] He earned a bachelor’s degree from Misericordia University and a master’s degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.^[1] He worked in education as a teacher, principal, and superintendent.^[2] Dunleavy also owned an educational consulting firm and served on the Mat-Su Borough School Board.^[2]

Dunleavy served in the Alaska Senate from 2012 to 2018. He represented District D until 2014 when redistricting moved him to District E. In 2018, Dunleavy resigned from the legislature to run for governor.

In 2018, Dunleavy was elected Governor of Alaska when he defeated incumbent Gov. Bill Walker (I) and Mark Begich (D) in the general election.^[3] At the time of the election, Dunleavy said, “I don't think the state is being managed well, you know that when you look at the educational results, public safety results, our high unemployment, lack of investment, I mean the list goes on and on. These are all man-made issues, so I decided to take the step and run for office because I think I can manage the state a lot better.”^[4]

During his 2018 campaign, Dunleavy said his priorities as governor would include “growing the economy, developing our natural resources, eradicating criminal behavior, controlling state spending, and demanding better results from our schools.”^[1]

Dunleavy won re-election in 2022, the first gubernatorial election in Alaska to use a top-four primary and ranked-choice voting for the general election. The system was approved in 2020. Dunleavy defeated Les Gara (D) 50.3% to 24.2% in round one of voting. As a result, he became the first governor in the state since 1998 to win two consecutive terms.^[5] In his second term, Dunleavy said he would focus on public safety, food security, and energy security.^[6]

Since Dunleavy assumed office in 2019, the Alaska House of Representatives majority has operated under a bipartisan governing coalition. The state Senate majority operated under a bipartisan governing coalition since 2023. Under this agreement, the two parties split control of leadership positions and committee chairs.

In his 2024 State of the State address, Dunleavy said, “As long as I’m governor, I’m going to work to make sure that the Alaska dream is within reach for anyone who wants to pursue it, so that we can realize our motto of North to the Future.”^[7]

Biography

Mike Dunleavy was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1961.^[1] He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Misericordia University and a master’s degree in education from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.^[1]^[8] He worked in education as a teacher, principal, and superintendent, and owned an educational consultation firm.^[2] He previously served on the Mat-Su Borough School Board from 2009 to 2012 and the Alaska Senate from 2012 to 2018.^[9]

Elections

2022

Incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) defeated Les Gara (D), Charlie Pierce (R), and Bill Walker (I) in the general election for governor of Alaska on November 8, 2022. The four candidates advanced from the top-four primary on August 16, 2022.

Dunleavy was first elected in 2018, succeeding Walker, who had served as governor since 2014. In that 2018 race, Walker withdrew in October and endorsed Democrat Mark Begich, saying, "Alaskans deserve a competitive race, and Alaskans deserve a choice other than Mike Dunleavy."^[10] Gara served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 2003 to 2018. Pierce served as mayor of Kenai Peninsula Borough from 2017 to September 2022.

This was the first gubernatorial election in Alaska to use a top-four primary and ranked-choice voting for the general election, a system voters approved in 2020. To learn more about the election system, click here.

The Alaska Republican Party endorsed Dunleavy and Pierce. Former President Donald Trump (R) endorsed Dunleavy. The Alaska Democratic Party and Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates backed Gara. Walker received endorsements from several Democratic state legislators and the state AFL-CIO. For more noteworthy endorsements, see below.

Permanent Fund dividends (PFD) were a major issue in the race. The state invests oil and gas revenues and distributes a portion of the investment earnings to residents annually. The statutory formula for calculating the dividend was last followed in 2015. Starting in 2016, a portion each year went toward funding government services.^[11]^[12] Click here and here to learn more about the PFD.

Dunleavy said he worked to guarantee the PFD in the state constitution and called for a 50-50 split between payments to residents and funds for government services.^[13]

Gara said Dunleavy changed his promises regarding the PFD. Gara said he sought to return to the statutory formula with revenue gained from ending what he called an "oil tax giveaway" while he was in the state House.^[14]

Pierce said he would restore the statutory funding formula.^[15]

Walker said Dunleavy had made unrealistic promises regarding the PFD. Walker said he would support "the largest dividend the state can afford but not at the expense of high taxes and weakened government services such as education and public safety."^[16]

On September 21, 2022, Gara and Walker each said they would rank one another as their second-choice candidates on their ballots in November.^[17]

At an October 11 debate, Pierce asked supporters to rank Dunleavy second on their ballots.^[18]

A state government trifecta refers to a situation where one party controls a state's governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. As of 2022, Alaska had a divided government, with a Republican governor and Republican numerical majorities in both chambers of the legislature but a power-sharing agreement in the state House that split control between parties.

As of December 18, 2025, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 12 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control.

This was one of 36 gubernatorial elections taking place in 2022. The governor serves as a state's top executive official and is the only executive office that is elected in all 50 states. At the time of the 2022 elections, there were 28 Republican governors and 22 Democratic governors. Click here for an overview of all 36 gubernatorial elections that took place in 2022.

General election

General election for Governor of Alaska

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Mike Dunleavy in round 1 .

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 263,752
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Governor of Alaska

The following candidates ran in the primary for Governor of Alaska on August 16, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Dunleavy (R)	40.4	76,534
✔		Les Gara (D)	23.1	43,660
✔		Bill Walker (Independent)	22.8	43,111
✔		Charlie Pierce (R)	6.6	12,458
		Christopher Kurka (R)	3.9	7,307
		John Howe (Alaskan Independence Party)	0.9	1,702
		Bruce Walden (R)	0.9	1,661
		William Toien (L)	0.7	1,381
		David Haeg (R)	0.6	1,139
	Submit photo	William Nemec II (Independent)	0.2	347

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 189,300
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Jim Cottrell (R)

2018

See also: Alaska gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

See also: Alaska gubernatorial election, 2018 (August 21 Republican primary)

Former state Sen. Mike Dunleavy (R) defeated former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich (D) and Libertarian William Toien in the November 6, 2018, general election for governor of Alaska.

Alaska remained under divided government following the election, meaning no one party controlled the governorship, state Senate, and state House. While a Republican was elected governor and the GOP maintained numerical majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, a coalition of Democrats, independents, and Republicans in the state House split control of the chamber. Read more here.

Gov. Bill Walker (I) suspended his re-election campaign on October 19, 2018, saying in a statement, "In the time remaining, I believe we cannot win a three-way race." Walker's original running mate, Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott (D), resigned from his position on October 16, 2018, and was succeeded by Valerie Nurr'araaluk Davidson (I). After suspending his re-election campaign, Walker endorsed Begich.^[19]

Walker initially intended to run for re-election as a Democrat, but Begich announced he would run for the nomination shortly before the June 1 filing deadline.^[20] Dunleavy secured the GOP gubernatorial nomination on August 21.

Walker and Mallott still appeared on the state's general election ballot.

Alaska was one of 36 states that held an election for governor in 2018. Democrats gained seven previously Republican-held seats, and Republicans gained one previously independent-held seat. Heading into the 2018 elections, there were 16 Democratic governors, 33 Republican governors, and one independent governor. In 2018, 26 of the 33 states with a Republican governor held a gubernatorial election, while nine out of the 16 states with a Democratic governor held a gubernatorial election. Seventeen of the 36 seats up for election were open seats (four Democratic, 12 Republican, and one independent), meaning that the sitting governor was not seeking re-election. Click here for more information on other 2018 gubernatorial elections.