Lesil McGuire filing adds ranked-choice Republican voice to crowded Alaska governor race

Former state Sen. Lesil McGuire filed a letter of intent Friday to run for governor, adding another well-known Anchorage Republican to a 2026 race shaped by open primaries and ranked choice voting.

The filing with the Alaska Public Offices Commission lets McGuire begin campaign finance activity. It does not put her on the Division of Elections candidate list — candidates for governor and lieutenant governor have to file jointly with the Division by 5 p.m. Monday, June 1. APOC records reviewed Friday afternoon did not show a lieutenant governor running mate attached to McGuire's filing.

McGuire served in the Legislature for 16 years, chaired Senate Rules, and co-chaired the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission, building a record on energy and resource development before leaving the Senate in 2017 after she did not seek reelection. She announced her exit at the Arctic Energy Summit, calling Arctic and energy issues "among the great passions of her life."

She joins a field that already includes four current or former state senators: Matt Claman, Tom Begich, Shelley Hughes, and Click Bishop. McGuire enters that mix as a Republican with a coalition record.

That record matters because Alaska's election system does not require a Republican to win a Republican primary. Candidates run together in a nonpartisan top-four primary, with the top four advancing to a ranked choice general election.

McGuire has become one of the more visible Republican defenders of that system — in 2024 she chaired No on 2, the campaign that beat back repeal of open primaries and ranked choice voting by 664 votes.

That role cuts both ways. It could anchor her pitch to voters who like the current system, and it gives opponents a way to tie her to a process many conservatives still want gone. Her 16-year legislative record offers the same double edge: substance to run on, and a long list of votes and alliances for rivals to mine.

If she files a formal ticket by Monday, McGuire could compete for voters drawn to Walker's independent brand, Claman's institutional profile, or Begich's coalition pitch — and for Republicans who want legislative experience without hard-party alignment. If she doesn't, Friday's APOC record will still mark how fluid the race became in the final days before the deadline.