The conservative media personality Bernadette Wilson, who has promised to pay Alaskans a full dividend from the state’s oil fund, block new taxes and slash government spending, has won a spot in the November general election for Alaska governor, according to The Associated Press.
Two Democrats, Tom Begich and Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, also secured spots in the general election, according to The A.P.
Votes are still being counted to determine the fourth candidate who will appear on the fall ranked-choice ballot, with several Republicans within around 1,000 votes of each other for the final spot.
Ms. Wilson, 42, owns a waste management company in Anchorage and has pitched herself to voters as a true conservative who will bring a pragmatic approach to state government. She promised in her campaign to reassert the power of the governor in a state where a coalition-led Legislature has repeatedly blocked Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s efforts to advance major infrastructure projects, like a proposed 800-mile liquid natural gas pipeline, and enact long-term fiscal restructuring. Mr. Dunleavy, a Republican, is barred by term limits from running again this year.
“Experienced politicians have failed us dramatically,” Ms. Wilson said in an interview last month. “We need to get back to giving Alaskans what they actually want and need.”
Ms. Wilson and the three other top finishers in the 17-person primary will compete in a November election that will use ranked-choice voting. She is one of the organizers of a ballot measure up for a vote in November that would end ranked-choice voting and Alaska’s open-primary system, in which candidates of all parties compete in the same primary.
Alaskans have backed President Trump in the last three presidential races, and they elected Mr. Dunleavy, a conservative Republican, to two terms. But unaffiliated voters outnumber both Republicans and Democrats, and the Legislature has been governed for nearly a decade by a coalition of Democrats, Republicans and independents.
Ballots are still being counted in Alaska, and candidates have until Aug. 31 to drop out of the general election. During the primary, Ms. Wilson urged other Republicans to agree to coalesce around the top G.O.P finisher.
