Peltola, Sullivan matchup set in key Alaska Senate race
The Hill · C · trust 64/100
Comments: by Julia Mueller - 08/19/26 1:07 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Julia Mueller - 08/19/26 1:07 AM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING Former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan are advancing to the general election Senate in Alaska, Decision Desk HQ projects.
It’s the third cycle under Alaska’s new voting system, in which the top four candidates will advance from the primary, regardless of party affiliation, to a ranked-choice general election.
Alaska has been dominated by Republicans for decades, and the Senate seat has long been seen as out-of-reach for Democrats.
But Peltola was a rare Democrat to find success in the Last Frontier when she won the at-large House seat in 2022. She was the first Alaska Native elected to Congress and joined the Blue Dogs Caucus of moderate Democrats.
Though she was narrowly ousted by a Republican in 2024, her Senate bid has stoked Democratic hopes of flipping the seat that Sullivan has held since 2015.
Sullivan’s bid this cycle is also complicated by a Republican rival by the same name , who’s avoided efforts to keep him off the ballot and forced the incumbent to grapple with potential voter confusion.
Cook Political Report and DDHQ both rate the race as a toss-up — and DDHQ predicts Democrats are narrowly favored to win.
The tight contest has drawn significant spending to the state isolated from the mainland U.S.
The Senate Leadership Fund, a big-dollar fundraising group affiliated with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), announced last week an additional $2 million investment in the Alaska race, bringing their total commitment to $17 million.
Peltola outraised Sullivan in the second quarter of the year, with nearly $7 million to the incumbent’s $2 million, though Sullivan ended with more cash in the bank.
Meanwhile, tech billionaire Elon Musk is reportedly spending big to support a reversal of Alaska’s newly reshaped voting system. Voters approved the system via ballot measure in 2020, but a new measure set to appear on this fall’s ballot would repeal the ranked choice voting system and open primaries. A similar initiative narrowly failed in the 2024 election.
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