Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins grew up in Sitka, where his mother worked as a family doctor and his father supplied the freezer with venison and halibut.¹ He spent time exploring the woods and graduated from Sitka High School as an Eagle Scout.¹ Most people know him by his initials, JKT.¹

He was approaching his final year of college when friends encouraged him to return to Alaska and challenge an incumbent state representative.¹ He left without a degree, campaigned using ferries and floatplanes and won the race by 32 votes.¹ He won five House elections in all before leaving the Legislature.¹

In 2014, Kreiss-Tomkins was a principal sponsor of the law recognizing twenty Alaska Native languages as official state languages alongside English.² The bill passed both chambers and was signed that October.² His work outside the Capitol has included helping establish Outer Coast, a liberal arts undergraduate program in Sitka.³ It began with summer seminars in 2018 and now offers a two year program with courses credited through the University of Alaska Southeast.³

With Republican Bernadette Wilson among his opponents, he proposes taxing oil company Hilcorp’s income, increasing school funding and constitutionally protecting the Permanent Fund from overspending.⁴ Their budget disagreement includes whether to follow the existing dividend formula without new taxes, as Wilson advocates; Republicans Dave Bronson and Treg Taylor also remain in the contest.⁴