(The Center Square)–U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and Mary Peltola advanced to November’s general election for U.S. Senate in Alaska’s crucial race to determine control of the upper chamber.
Alaska voters selected the incumbent Republican senator and a prominent former congresswoman as two of the top four vote getters in the state’s nonpartisan primary on Tuesday. The other two candidates were unclear by the time of publication.
Sullivan has touted his record supporting the Trump administration’s agenda, including his vote for the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and the Save America Act, signature Trump policies that are unpopular with other Alaska Republicans including Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
“I don’t think we have a big voter challenge in terms of cheating in Alaska, but for the country, there’s a place in the country where this is an important issue,” Sullivan said. “This is not focused on disenfranchising Alaska voters.”
In recent days, Sullivan ramped up his attacks on Peltola, who represented Alaska in the state’s sole U.S. House seat until she lost reelection in 2024.
Sullivan associated Peltola with Democrats in other states and accused her of attempting to play “political games.”
“Alaska is the firewall for freedom in America, and this election is too important for Alaskans to allow the political games being played by Mary Peltola and Lower 48 liberals to work,” Dan S. Sullivan said.
Peltola has focused her campaign on promoting local issues in Alaska including access to lands for fishing and bringing more oil refineries to the state. She also called for expanding solar and wind energy tax credits and eliminating the federal income tax for Alaska households earning less thatn $92,000 per year.
“Alaskans know life is harder here — but there’s only so many times you can sacrifice groceries or skip a doctor’s visit before you start to loathe the DC politicians who keep making things worse,” Peltola said. “It shouldn’t be this hard to get by in Alaska, and when I’m in the U.S. Senate, I’m going to fight to make life affordable for hardworking Alaska families.”
Peltola earned more votes than incumbent Sullivan with 61,189 as of early Wednesday morning, according to the Alaska Secretary of State. In comparison, Dan S. Sullivan earned 55,461 votes.
“Tonight shows Alaskans are fired up and ready for an independent voice in the Senate who will fix the rigged system, lower costs, and put Alaska first,” Peltola wrote on social media.
Another notable candidate in the race was Dan J. Sullivan Jr., a Republican who earned the third highest amount of votes at the time of publication with 3,147. His candidacy has been criticized and brought with legal challenges over having the same name as the incumbent Senator.
Trump slammed Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy and accused him of being aligned with Democrats in Alaska, including Peltola, to confuse voters. Dan J. Sullivan Jr. has denied any connection to Peltola or other Democrats.
“The Crooked, Radical Left Dumocrats have put up another man named ‘Dan Sullivan,’ and they did this to take away votes from our Great Senator of the same name,” Trump wrote on social media. “Democrats are trying to ‘trick’ Alaskans, and treat Alaskan Voters with contempt.”
Dan J. Sullivan Jr. has focused his campaign on criticizing the Trump administration’s cuts to federal forestry and wildlife programs in Alaska.
“We lost a lot of people. We lost a lot of programs. We lost a lot of money,” Sullivan said. “We lost a lot of scientific data that’s important to our fisheries programs.”
Dan S. Sullivan leads in fundraising with more than $7.2 million in cash on hand, followed by Peltola with more than $4.6 million, according to the Federal Election Commission.
It was still too early to tell by the time of publication who the third and fourth highest vote-getters would be in the critical election with consequences for the balance of the U.S. Senate. Republicans currently control the chamber with a 53-45 makeup, while two independent members caucus with Democrats.
Democrats see Alaska as a prime opportunity to flip seats in the chamber. The Cook Political Report ranks Alaska’s U.S. Senate race as one of four “toss up” elections.
