Peltola, Sullivan Advance in Pivotal Alaska Senate Race
Peltola, Sullivan Advance in Pivotal Alaska Senate Race
The News
Democrat Mary Peltola and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan both advanced out of Alaska's all-party primary on Aug. 18, setting up a November general election that could decide control of the US Senate.
NBC News projected both would advance. MSNBC reported Sullivan finished first.
Alaska uses a top-four primary: every candidate from every party runs on one ballot, the top four finishers move on, and the general election is settled by ranked-choice voting. The final two spots had not been called.
Still unsettled is whether a second Republican named Dan J. Sullivan — a former teacher the senator's allies call a Democratic plant — will appear alongside the incumbent on the November ballot.
Timeline
Sullivan, a former Marine officer and former state attorney general, defeated Democrat Mark Begich. He took his seat in 2015 and is now a two-term incumbent.
Peltola won a special election to become the first Alaska Native to represent the state in Congress, then won a full term later that year.
Peltola lost re-election by 3 percentage points, running nearly 16,000 votes ahead of Kamala Harris in the state, according to NBC News.
Lt. Gov. Carol Beecher, who oversees Alaska elections, disqualified Dan J. Sullivan, citing that he had not previously used the shortened form of his name, had not been affiliated with the Republican Party until two days before filing, and had built a campaign website with branding similar to the senator's, The Epoch Times reported. Courts later allowed him back onto the primary ballot, a ruling the state Supreme Court upheld.
A federal grand jury issued subpoenas seeking information from witnesses tied to the Dan J. Sullivan campaign, a law enforcement official told NBC News. State and federal prosecutors are investigating whether the candidacy was part of a conspiracy to confuse voters.
Alaskans vote. Peltola and Sullivan advance.
Reactions
Sullivan and his Republican allies have cried foul over the second Sullivan on the ballot, arguing he is a Democratic plant. Dan J. Sullivan denies it, saying in campaign materials: "Every qualified citizen should have the opportunity to seek public office. Our democracy is strongest when voters have choices and when elections are decided by the people, not parties or government officials."
A spokesman for Peltola told Reuters her campaign had no involvement in the Dan J. Sullivan candidacy.
Fox News framed the result as the senator and the former House Democrat emerging from the "jungle primary" despite what it called far-left meddling.
Sullivan has cast Peltola as too liberal for Alaska, arguing in a recent ad that she is beholden to "Lower 48 liberals." One of his ads says she sold out US troops by voting against a pay increase.
Peltola, who campaigns on "fish, family, freedom," has run on local issues and a "rigged" political system. In an ad she said: "There is nobody more dedicated to our veterans and military families than a military mom."
What's Next
The general election is Nov. 3, decided by ranked-choice voting. Two more candidates are expected to join Peltola and Sullivan on that ballot once the remaining primary places are called.
Whether Dan J. Sullivan qualifies for November has not been determined. The federal investigation into his candidacy is moving forward.
Democrats need to net four seats to take the Senate. Republicans currently hold a three-seat majority, and The Epoch Times reports Alaska is one of five races rated a toss-up.
More
Money has run one way. NBC News reported Peltola has raised $18 million to Sullivan's $12 million, but spent heavily — leaving Sullivan with $7.3 million on hand to Peltola's $4.6 million as of July 29. The Epoch Times put her fundraising at about $19 million against $14 million spent, versus $12 million raised and $5 million spent for Sullivan by the same date. Total candidate spending in Alaska's 2022 Senate race was roughly $18 million, per Ballotpedia figures cited by The Epoch Times.
President Trump has endorsed Sullivan, who has broadly backed his agenda. Trump carried Alaska by double digits in each of the last three presidential elections, which is why Democrats see a Peltola win as a stretch worth funding: she has won statewide before as the state's at-large congresswoman.
Fishing is the sleeper issue. Both candidates oppose high-bycatch practices such as bottom trawling — Sullivan introduced a bill to limit them, Peltola wrote an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News calling for a ban on factory trawling. Two PACs, Right For Alaska and Fair Deal Alaska, spent about $1.3 million between July 20 and Aug. 17 boosting Sullivan or attacking Peltola, according to Federal Election Commission records cited by The Epoch Times.
Mark Begich remains the only Democrat to hold an Alaska Senate seat since 1981.
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