Two Democrats and two Republicans have taken the top spots in Alaska’s crowded open primary for governor, according to The Associated Press. But the ballot this fall will reflect a different reality in a state that leans red, yet offers what Democrats believe is a rare opportunity this year.

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a Democratic former state legislator from Sitka, Alaska, finished first in the 17-person primary, a nonpartisan election in which the top four finishers advance to November’s ranked-choice vote.

Close behind Mr. Kreiss-Tomkins was Tom Begich, a Democratic former state lawmaker from Anchorage and singer-songwriter with a rich family legacy in state politics.

And the final two candidates projected by The A.P. to advance, based on the number of absentee ballots counted in recent days, are Bernadette Wilson and Dave Bronson.

Mr. Kreiss-Tomkins, who led the field with 22.5 percent of the more than 164,000 votes cast, has pitched himself as a pragmatic change agent willing to work with Republicans and independents to solve Alaska’s fiscal problems and population drop. He chose a nonpartisan member of the Anchorage Assembly as his running mate. At 37, he would be the youngest governor in the state’s history.

Mr. Begich, who ran on a promise to lower costs, improve public schools and reverse the exodus of young people and families from Alaska, finished with almost 21 percent of the unofficial vote tally, but announced Friday night that he would exit the race.

Though ranked-choice voting gives people the opportunity to support multiple candidates, Mr. Begich said he made his decision after seeing data that suggested a single Democrat stood a better chance at winning.

A Democrat last served as governor of Alaska in 2002, but the strong showings by both of the party’s candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola in the Aug. 18 primary have given the party renewed hope that 2026 might be different.

“What matters most is making sure Alaska gets a governor who will move us forward,” Mr. Begich said. “We believe the best way to do that now is to bring together the people, energy and momentum we have created and put our strength behind one candidate.”

Ms. Wilson, the leading vote-getter among Republicans with 10 percent of the votes cast, wants a similar conversation with Mr. Bronson, a former mayor of Anchorage. But Mr. Bronson has indicated no interest.

Ms. Wilson, a conservative activist and radio host and owner of an Anchorage waste management company, is running as a populist, small government Republican, with an emphasis on resource development, the restoration of a full Permanent Fund dividend to residents, school choice and cuts to what she portrays as excessive government spending.

She has promised to use the bully pulpit to reassert the power of the governor in Alaska after the outgoing governor, Mike Dunleavy, struggled with a coalition-led legislature.

Ms. Wilson is also an organizer of a November ballot measure that would return Alaska to closed party primaries and end ranked-choice voting.

She has argued that Republicans should coalesce behind the top vote-getter if multiple G.O.P. hopefuls make the general election. “We have one job: to give a Republican governor a true mandate when they take office,” she said in an interview last month.

Mr. Bronson said in a social media video posted on Wednesday that he would not step aside. He said Ms. Wilson did not capture a high enough percentage of Republican votes to convince him that she could beat the Democrats. Mr. Bronson received 8.1 percent of the primary votes.

“We hear the calls for unity, and we are answering them,” Mr. Bronson said in the video. “We are staying in this race because we believe Alaskans deserve a choice.”

Mr. Bronson, a retired Air Force pilot, has touted his experience running Anchorage, Alaska’s largest government outside the state itself, although his one term as mayor ended in defeat after several years of conflict and controversy.

He has promised to focus on public safety; a full Permanent Fund dividend; and the expanded development of oil, gas and other natural resources.

Under Alaska’s election laws, a top-four candidate who drops out by the deadline on Monday will be replaced by the next highest finisher.

The fifth- and sixth-place candidates are both Republicans.

Treg Taylor, the state’s former attorney general, is a conservative who has emphasized resource development, gun rights and opposition to federal regulation. Click Bishop, a former state legislator and labor commissioner, has deep ties to organized labor, and served in bipartisan coalitions alongside Democrats during his 12 years in the State Senate.

The candidates are running to replace Governor Dunleavy, who is barred by state law from seeking a third consecutive term.

The lack of an incumbent or an heir apparent for the first time in almost 25 years led to an unusually crowded primary that included candidates from across the political spectrum.

Although the Democrats finished first, that was largely a quirk of primary math. Mr. Begich and Mr. Kreiss-Tomkins were the only Democrats in the 17-candidate field, while 12 Republicans divided the conservative vote among them.

Alaska has voted for President Trump in three general elections. Still, coalitions of Democrats, Republicans and independents have controlled at least one chamber of the state legislature for much of the past decade, a reflection of a political culture that has often proved less reliably partisan than its presidential voting record might suggest.