Alaska Senate Race
Has Become
a Critical Contest

| published August 20, 2026 |

By R. Alan Clanton
Thursday Review editor

Once a bastion of the maverick center-right and a conservative libertarianism, Alaska has become a land of opportunity for a Democratic Party searching for solid wins—wherever those wins can be found.

On a busy primary Tuesday across the nation, Democrat Mary Peltola surprised many observers by raking in about 48% of the total vote in a non-partisan primary for one of Alaska’s U.S. Senate seats. Peltola secured more votes than the incumbent, Republican Dan S. Sullivan, who garnered about 42% of the vote.

Peltola’s extremely strong finish was one of several upsets on Tuesday, including Democratic Socialist Angie Nixon’s shocking defeat of centrist Democrat Alex Vindman in Florida; Vindman had raised and spent more than $16 million; Nixon, a Jacksonville native, had spent barely $1 million.

In Alaska, Peltola will now face off against Sullivan in the General Election in November, and may give Democrats an opening in their effort to gain control of the U.S. Senate.

But in independent-minded Alaska, there can be off-the-grid challenges. Incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan has also contended with Republican Dan J. Sullivan, a former school teacher, leading some to argue that the confusion wrought by the two GOP-aligned Sullivans was enough (and may remain more than enough) to dupe enough hapless Alaskans into voting for the wrong candidate and splitting the vote.

In fact, more than a few Republicans in Alaska—and even some newspapers and media outlets—have called the “alternate” Sullivan a sham and a shill, effectively a cutout sent into the race by unscrupulous Democrats to muddy the waters. Some analysts have said there may yet be additional legal challenges.

Previous attempts to disqualify the “second” Sullivan from the election have thus far failed, and some in the GOP fear his name on the ballot will be enough to open the door for a victory for Peltola. It remains unclear if the “second” Sullivan will qualify to be placed on the November ballot, since Tuesday’s primary was intended to narrow the total field to no more than four candidates in the November election, which is how Alaska’s “open primary” method works; the top four voter-getters will proceed onto the ballot for November.

At this point, the third candidate slated for the November ballot may be David B. Leslie, Democrat from Fairbanks. But here, too, resides murky waters: Leslie, who has spent almost no money in his low-energy campaign and has raised none, has been backed nevertheless by the PAC American Democracy Project, which has dumped more than $300,000 into Leslie’s campaign. Leslie has told reporters he has no idea why the PAC is backing him so enthusiastically.

Meanwhile, the two main candidates—Peltola and Dan S. Sullivan—are headed into November knowing that the outcome of this key race may alter the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. Both parties now face the possibility of pumping heavy cash into Alaska. Peltola has already spent some $18.5 million this year, but she has about $4 million in reserve and plans to raise more cash soon. Sullivan, however, has about $7 million on hand, and Republicans intend to raise more money quickly to reduce the risk that Sullivan will come up short as November draws nearer.

The 52-year-old Peltola was born in Anchorage, attended the University of Alaska, and has previously served as a judge on a regional native council tribal court before getting elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1999. Her rise to national prominence came when she won a special election in 2022 to fill Alaska’s “at-large” congressional district. Peltola then served as a U.S. Representative from 2022 to 2025. Even then, Peltola had some crossover appeal, receiving the endorsement of Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski who bucked the GOP establishment and urged Alaskans to consider Peltola.

Peltola has focused much of her political career on the often unique template of concerns for Alaskans: land management, fisheries, energy. Like many Democrats nationally, she has also thrown much of her discussion into health care and affordability. Unlike most Democrats, she is an advocate of gun rights.

Incumbent Daniel Scott Sullivan was born in Ohio but has lived in Alaska since the 1990s. A former U.S. Marine, Sullivan’s educational and work resume is substantial; Sullivan attended Harvard, where is majored in economics and where he graduated magna cum laude in 1987; later, at Georgetown University, he studied both law and foreign affairs, earning a joint degree in both while also servied on the Georgetown Law Journal. His move to Alaska came when he was tapped to serve as a clerk to Justice Warren Matthews on the Alaska Supreme Court in 1998. Later, then-Governor Sarah Palin nominated Sullivan to become Attorney General.

Sullivan also counts among his experience work in the administration of George W. Bush, serving as a member of the National Economic Council and later on the National Security Council.

Sullivan and his fellow Alaska Republicans hope that his heavy resume and substantial Washington experience is enough to secure a win in November, but worries about the “second” Dan Sullivan are aplenty, and Democrats make no secret of the fact that they covet this potential opening. To make matters even more confusing for some, Senator Sullivan and the former schoolteacher Dan Sullivan are not to be confused with a former Anchorage Mayor, Dan A. Sullivan, a Republican who served as mayor for nine years and also served in the Anchorage Assembly.

Both Sullivan and Peltola have already begun campaigning for the General Election, and both candidates would rather the electorate consider the race a two-person contest, especially since the stakes are high for control of the U.S. Senate. Sullivan has so far used a fairly time-honored campaign tactic of suggesting Peltola is a garden-variety liberal—the term he has used is a “Lower 48 Liberal.” Peltola has already aimed her firepower at Sullivan’s connections to special interests, and has said that Sullivan represents the rich and powerful.

Under normal circumstances Sullivan would have the natural advantage; not only is Sullivan a reliable Trump ally, but Alaska has been a Republican stronghold for decades. Sullivan is also a hawk on energy, fully in favor of opening up more land for oil and gas exploration, and in full support of expanding leases for oil extraction.

But Peltola’s close connections to the fishing industries and her experience in fish and wildlife legislation have so far worked well, dovetailing neatly into her campaign’s efforts to portray her as a friend of working Alaskans and middle class families. Peltola is also running as a centrist, making no effort to embrace any of the language being used by Democratic Socialists in other key face-offs. Peltola clearly intends to craft a message intended to appeal to voters beyond those registered as Democrats.

Meanwhile, Alaska Republicans—and plenty of GOP strategists in Washington—are hopeful that the “Tale of Two Sullivans” does not end in disaster for The Last Frontier—a mishap which might just tilt the U.S. Senate in favor of the Democratic Party.



Related Thursday Review articles:

Byron Donalds and Florida's "No Debate" Debate; By R. Alan Clanton, Thursday Review editor; July 30, 2026.

A Political Autopsy With Few Surprises; By R. Alan Clanton, Thursday Review editor; May 24, 2026.