Alaska

Alaska https://www.washingtonsun.com/alaska Alaska en-US Fri, 16 Oct 2026 09:40:00 GMT Alaska Is Becoming a Swing State https://www.washingtonsun.com/campaigns/alaska-swing-state-peltola Alex Roarty This year’s tight races are part of a decades-long trend. “I believe it is turning purple. I can feel it,” Mark Begich told The Sun. Fri, 16 Oct 2026 09:40:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/campaigns/alaska-swing-state-peltola

Alaska Democrats are cautiously optimistic about Mary Peltola’s chances against incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. (Becky Bohrer/AP)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Mary Peltola is widely perceived — at least in Washington — to have a real chance at winning her marquee U.S. Senate race here because of her talent as a politician and a brutal national political climate for Republicans.

But there’s an overlooked factor boosting her campaign ahead of November’s election.

After being a firmly Republican state for most of its existence, Alaska has slowly but steadily moved left in recent elections, becoming more supportive of Democratic candidates at every level of elected office. By 2024, the state was more politically similar to right-of-center battlegrounds like Ohio and Iowa, where Democrats are often at least competitive statewide, than to the conservative strongholds like Wyoming and Idaho it used to resemble.

And unlike Ohio and Iowa, Alaska is continuing to move left: A Washington Sun analysis of presidential results found that from the 2000 election to 2024 election, Alaska shifted 20 points to the left relative to the national popular vote. That’s the fourth most of any state, trailing only Vermont, Colorado and Utah, according to the analysis.

From 2008 to 2024, it moved further toward Democrats than any other state, a 17-point shift. (The GOP performed especially well in Alaska in 2008 thanks in part to former Gov. Sarah Palin’s presence on the GOP ticket.)

The change is evident on the ground. In interviews with The Sun, more than a dozen party leaders, elected officials and political strategists described a state whose cities have become more progressive, whose state legislative battlegrounds have swung toward Democrats and whose top elected jobs — including one senator and governor — might soon be under the party’s control.

Democrats, cautiously optimistic about Peltola’s chances against Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, are even more bullish about the prospects of the party’s de facto gubernatorial nominee Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins.

It all leads to a conclusion that even some die-hard Democrats in Alaska are squeamish to admit after years and years of Republican dominance: Alaska might be becoming a genuine swing state.

“I believe it is turning purple. I can feel it,” said Mark Begich, a former Democratic senator. “It’ll probably take two more cycles to prove it.”

The state’s political evolution has big implications for its Senate race this year, which some party strategists are counting on to help Democrats gain the four seats they need for majority control of the chamber in 2027.

But, just as importantly, the transformation might offer a long-term lifeline for a Democratic Party with few viable targets in Senate races in the coming years, boxed in by a map filled with red states. And even though the state only carries three votes in the electoral college, its tiny sliver of votes could make the difference in tight presidential races when so many states are otherwise noncompetitive. The state’s White House result in 2024 was the 29th most friendly to Democrats, just behind Florida and Iowa, two states trending the wrong direction for the party.

Competing in Alaska might not be a question of something the party wants to do, but something the party has to do.

“If Democrats can’t consistently keep Alaska on the political battlefield, where else can they make that up?” said David de la Fuente, a political analyst with the Democratic think tank Third Way. “And it’s hard to make an argument for anywhere else.”
Dan Sullivan,Nick Begich,Julie Fate Sullivan (5115x3410, AR: 1.50)Initially, after being admitted as the 49th state in 1959, Alaska was seen as a state that would reliably vote for Democrats. But an oil boom in the 1960s on the state’s north slope transformed Alaska’s economy and its politics, bringing with it immense wealth and a wariness of the Democratic Party’s environmental agenda. Alaska last voted for a Democratic presidential nominee in 1964, when it backed Lyndon B. Johnson.

Trump won Alaska by 13 points in 2024, well short of the 25-point-plus victories George W. Bush racked up in the 2000s, but a double-digit victory nonetheless.

Alaska Republicans maintain that even if the margins are smaller than they used to be, the state remains reliably conservative at the federal level, in large part because of the incompatibility of the national Democratic Party’s environmental policies and the state’s economic needs.

“Alaska's future is heavily dependent upon our ability to effectively advocate for resource development in our state,” Republican Rep. Nick Begich said in an interview. “And the Democrat Party, for whatever reason, has not been supportive of resource development in Alaska for many years. And they've proven that as a core component of their national platform, they are not willing to support resource development in our state.”

Nick Begich, who also faces a competitive race this year against the Democratic-backed independent candidate Bill Hill, pointed out that Democrats like former senator Mark Begich and Peltola had won statewide general elections in Alaska before (in 2008 and 2022, respectively) only to lose their next election. It’s a sign, he said, that even if voters here are willing to give Democrats a chance, they’re rarely willing to stick with them after they’ve been in office.
Election 2026-Alaska (5184x3456, AR: 1.50)Even the most bullish Democrats say that even if the state is trending their way, it will always retain a distinct political independence. Alaska’s unique characteristics — its oil and fishing industries, native Alaskan population and rugged arctic climate — mean its politics are unlike any other state’s, often less ideologically driven and more focused on demanding basic material support for communities that would suffer without it.

It’s why the state elected an independent governor last decade and why the state legislature for years has had an unusual power-sharing agreement between Democrats and moderate Republicans, designed to exclude extreme voices in either party. It also explains how Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski won a write-in reelection campaign in 2010 after losing her primary to a tea party-backed candidate, drawing support from across the political spectrum.

Still, some Democrats have quietly touted Alaska’s emerging importance for years, especially after Peltola’s 2022 victory in the state’s at-large House seat. De la Fuente, the Third Way official, wrote an analysis in 2023 urging then-President Joe Biden to consider competing in the state during the next presidential election.

The state’s demographic profile — including a low share of white voters, relatively high union participation and low religiosity — aligned with the modern Democratic Party, he wrote at the time, and was a major reason the state had shifted to the left over the previous two decades. In his view, Alaska represented a much better bet for Democrats than states like Florida, Ohio and Iowa, which received considerably more attention as potential battlegrounds.

“I feel like the political data is telling a very strong story here, of this not being a fluke,” de la Fuente told The Sun.
APTOPIX Vance (6000x4000, AR: 1.50)Why Alaska has shifted politically is a subject of debate. The state’s electorate, on the surface, has not changed significantly since 2000, according to Census data.

Some political strategists point to the declining number of oil and gas jobs, which started last decade and intensified after the 2020 pandemic and proliferation of remote work. Others say Alaska’s unusual open primary system, implemented in 2022 in which the top four vote getting candidates move on to the general election, has contributed, helping Democrats nominate more moderate candidates they consider better aligned with the state.

But locally, Democrats point to two main factors: the evolution of politics in Anchorage and the priority local Democrats place on political pragmatism.

Anchorage, at a population of nearly 300,000 people, holds about 40% of the state’s total population. And at a local level, its politics have shifted left.

Mark Begich recounted that as a young Democrat running for a seat on the city assembly here in the 1980s, every level of elected office in the town’s eastern half — from governor down to local legislator — was represented by a conservative or Republican (the city’s assembly seats are nonpartisan). Now, east Anchorage is represented at every level of state government by liberals or Democrats.

Across the city, local politicos say a 12-member assembly that used to be evenly split ideologically is now almost uniformly liberal, save for one or two members.

“Anchorage growing up is part of the story,” said Eric Croft, chair of the state Democratic Party. “Anchorage is getting to be a medium-sized city that, like a lot of them, is getting more and more progressive.”

Anchorage, in other words, is following the same political path of a lot of cities across the country.

“People that are living in Anchorage want good schools for their kids and actually want parks and amenities,” said Jim Lottsfeldt, an independent political strategist. “And there's sort of been a maturation process of what we expect from our government and what we want as far as public facilities.”

To other Democrats, it’s hard to miss how the state’s leftward drift over the past 20 years corresponded with the rise of the tea party movement and, later, Trump — two ideologically driven movements they argue are at odds with the state’s pragmatic bent.

“I think Alaskans, given their druthers, would vote for a nice Chamber of Commerce Republican,” said Joelle Hall, emeritus president of the Alaska AFL-CIO. “A banker. A nice guy. A civically minded, slightly conservative guy. That's their drug of choice.”  

“That's not what's been offered to them lately,” Hall said.

In 2000, with George W. Bush on the ballot, Alaska voted 31.5 percentage points to the right of the country (Bush won Alaska by 31 points while losing the national popular vote by one-half of a point). In 2024, with Trump again leading the GOP ticket, the state voted just 11.5 percentage points to the right of the nation (Trump won Alaska by 13 points while winning the national popular vote by 1.5 points).

Democrats are emphatic that the quality of the individual candidate on the ballot is hugely important in Alaska. It’s why they don’t think that Murkowski, who has done more to separate herself from Trump than perhaps any other Senate Republican, will face a serious challenge from Democrats when she’s up for reelection in 2028.
Capitol Hill (4680x3120, AR: 1.50)It’s also why in-state Democrats are most skeptical about the party’s presidential chances in Alaska anytime soon. The party’s White House nominee usually has a different, more ideological profile than the types of candidates Democrats run in the state. Peltola’s views on energy development, for instance, would likely draw a fierce backlash from national Democrats’ progressive base.

Even progressives in the state say that Democrats run a different kind of campaign in Alaska than elsewhere.

“Those of us who are progressive have embraced bipartisanship,” said Zack Fields, a Democratic state representative who represents part of Anchorage. “And rather than talk about whatever crazy identity politics that has seized the national Democratic Party, we talk about bread-and-butter issues that affect families every single day. We talk about class size, we talk about energy security, we are just relentlessly pro-jobs.”

Fields said that if Democrats nationally embraced the approach he and his colleagues have taken in Alaska, they “would have 85% of the seats in Congress.”

But, he added, the state is often overlooked by the national party. It’s why its shift to the left this century has been largely ignored, even if it could help the party win a Senate majority this November.

“People in the Lower 48 are not aware of it,” Fields said. “If Alaska were the geographic distance to D.C. of West Virginia or another state nearby, there’d be all kinds of stories about it because it’s super interesting.”]]> Mary Peltola Dismisses Reports of Angry Outbursts as ‘Gossip’ During Debate https://www.washingtonsun.com/campaigns/mary-peltola-debate-dan-sullivan-alaska-senate Ellie Fivas For the first time, the Democrat running in the high-stakes Alaska Senate race publicly addressed the reporting by The New York Times. Fri, 16 Oct 2026 05:26:07 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/campaigns/mary-peltola-debate-dan-sullivan-alaska-senate Election 2026 Alaska Senate

Sen. Dan Sullivan seemed eager to make The New York Times reporting an issue, and brought up the allegations during an unrelated debate question. (Becky Bohrer/AP)

Mary Peltola, the Democratic candidate in Alaska’s Senate race, directly addressed allegations of mistreatment of former staffers for the first time on Thursday, calling them “outright fabrications” and “mass exaggerations of the truth” in a debate.

Peltola, who is running against Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in a close and widely watched race, has dodged questions on the campaign trail about the report by The New York Times from late September detailing mistreatment of staff. But at the hour-long Senate debate, the first time the candidates had faced off in such a setting, it came up several times.

Sullivan seemed eager to make it an issue, and brought up the allegations during an unrelated debate question.

“Take a look at how she treats Alaskans when the cameras are off. Look at that New York Times story,” he said, arguing it revealed a “character flaw.”

He alluded to some of the outlet’s reporting beyond Peltola’s behavior toward staff, including her alleged use of slurs.

The two began talking over each other, with Sullivan adding, “It’s The New York Times, read the article.”

Peltola jumped in to say the allegations were “gossip.”

The moderator threatened to shut off their microphones if necessary.

Later, a moderator asked Peltola directly about the allegations.

“I do not think that this election is about me on my worst day,” she said. “I found so many of these allegations concerning and outright fabrications or mass exaggerations of the truth.”

“I really am very concerned about making sure that we are respectful and respectful of all people, and again, this campaign is not about me on my worst day,” she added.

The Democratic candidate also suggested that the allegations likely emerged because her campaign is a threat to Sullivan. The incumbent senator once again circled back to the subject, pointing out that the report was not published by “conservative media” but rather the Times.

The Times reported that former staffers said Peltola had a history of frustration with staff throughout her campaign and as a member of the House of Representatives. It outlined an instance of her allegedly shoving a staffer, which her campaign characterized to the outlet as a bump. The report also included her alleged use of slurs, which Sullivan referenced as he attacked her over the article.

The story also described a text in which Peltola said of someone, “I hope she dies of a botched abortion.” That was also used as an attack line by Sullivan.

In a statement to the Times, her campaign spokesperson denied that she had a pattern of abusive behavior and cited a period of grief following the deaths of Peltola’s mother and husband in 2023.

The allegations shook the race in the closing stretch of the campaign, prompting an intraparty feud among Democrats about whether the staffers who shared their accounts with the Times had been too sensitive.

It was not a debate many Democrats liked taking up oxygen, given that the Alaska race has emerged as one of the most competitive in the country, with The Cook Political Report rating it a “toss-up.” Sullivan has served in his seat for two terms and Peltola was previously a U.S. House representative for Alaska’s at-large district.

It was clear how high the stakes were for both of them, as those were not the only heated exchanges.

Peltola appeared to read off notecards for much of the debate, which Sullivan noticed in real time.

"We weren't supposed to get these questions beforehand, were we?" he asked. (The moderators said no.) "I'm just watching my opponent read."

“I’m prepared,” Peltola responded.
]]> This Is Why Trump Is Going to Alaska https://www.washingtonsun.com/campaigns/alaska-trump-campaign-senate-house-race Alex Roarty Republicans have dominated Alaska for years. But there are distinct issues roiling the state’s races now. Tue, 13 Oct 2026 09:40:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/campaigns/alaska-trump-campaign-senate-house-race Mary Peltola, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate seat in Alaska, addresses supporters.

Mary Peltola, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate seat in Alaska, addresses supporters.

Republicans and Democrats each dismiss recent public polling that shows Democrat Mary Peltola vaulting ahead in the Senate race. (Mark Thiessen/AP)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — President Donald Trump will campaign in Alaska on Tuesday, hoping to boost Republican candidates in a state he won by 13 percentage points in 2024. He has said repeatedly that voters should “pretend” he’s on the ballot.

But some Alaska Republicans are happy to remind the public that, actually, Trump isn’t up for reelection this year.

“The president is not on the ballot,” Republican Rep. Nick Begich told The Washington Sun in an interview here last week. “I am. Sen. Sullivan is.”

Asked about the president’s request that GOP voters act like he’s on the ballot, the congressman demurred.

“Republicans should act like he is,” Begich said. “But at the end of the day, his name does not literally appear on the ballot.”

Trump’s visit this week underscores how much is at stake in Alaska for both the president’s political legacy and his party’s chances of holding on to control of the Senate. Democrats need to gain a net of four Senate seats this year to win a majority, and strategists in both parties view Alaska as a potential tipping-point state in that battle.

Interviews on the ground here make clear just how competitive the state has become, showcasing the vulnerabilities Republicans have in seats they’ve long controlled.

Begich said in the interview that no president had done more for Alaska than Trump, thanks to his administration’s priority on natural resource development. And he said the popularity of the administration’s policies was evident in that Republicans were performing much better on the generic congressional ballot, despite Trump’s low approval ratings.

Still, Trump could be a drag on Republican candidates in Alaska. The average cost of gasoline is above $5 a gallon, and the cost of diesel — which many rural communities purchase before winter as heating fuel — is through the roof.

The president’s tariffs on many foreign goods are also seen as especially harmful, in part because of the state’s long border with Canada.

“People are exhausted by Trump’s shenanigans,” said Joelle Hall, the emeritus president of the Alaska AFL-CIO. “They're exhausted by this war. They're exhausted by all the things that are running down upon them, and they just want to change. This feels like a change election.”

Don’t Believe the Polls?

Republicans and Democrats each dismiss recent public polling that shows Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola, Alaska’s former at-large House member, vaulting ahead of Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, insisting the race is neck and neck.

“I don’t think she is 7 points ahead,” former Democratic Sen. Mark Begich told The Sun. “I think it’s more like she’s a couple of points ahead. And the thing about Alaska — if you’re a Democratic candidate and you’re going into the final days and you’re two points ahead, you’re probably tied.”

A New York Times/Siena University survey conducted mostly in September found Peltola with a 7-point lead over Sullivan. An AARP survey that month also found Peltola with a significant edge

Other surveys have found a tighter race, with the former Democratic congresswoman still holding a small lead.

But Republicans and even some Democrats believe Sullivan has made up ground in recent weeks thanks to increased engagement from conservative voters, who had previously expressed little interest in the upcoming election. Republican voters, in other words, are starting to come home.

“We're seeing rising levels of enthusiasm showing up in both internal and publicly released polling data among the Republican and conservative independent base in Alaska,” Nick Begich said in the interview.

One senior Sullivan campaign official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said they believed that had the election been held at the start of October, the senator would have lost. But the official believed that the last two weeks had bolstered Sullivan enough that if the election were held now, he would win.

Most Alaska Democrats are still confident that Peltola has a small but real edge in the race. A new survey released this week showed the Democratic candidate with a 2-point edge over Sullivan in the fourth round of tabulation.

Ballot Issues

One reason Democrats still think the former congresswoman will win: Alaska’s unusual ranked-choice, top-four ballot system.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the victor of this Senate race could come down to how a few thousand Republican voters navigate the ballot — something they have not traditionally been very adept at doing.

November’s ballot will include four names. And in a blow to the incumbent senator, one of the other listed candidates is also a Republican, Gerald Heikes, while a second shares the senator’s first and last name, Daniel J. Sullivan.

In a ranked-choice system, Republican voters could either rank the other Sullivan or Heikes first and still list the senator as a second option, which would effectively be the same as ranking him as their top choice in the second or third rounds of tabulation. (Votes are reallocated each round until one candidate obtains a majority.)

But the problem — one that Sen. Dan Sullivan’s campaign is keenly aware of — is that many GOP-aligned voters only rank their top candidate and leave the rest of the ballot blank, even if they would prefer Sullivan to a Democrat like Peltola.

That could cost the senator thousands of votes and swing the election to Peltola — an outcome Republicans bluntly acknowledge is possible.

“That’s frustrating, right?” the incumbent Republican told The Sun in an interview last week, pointing in particular to the other Dan Sullivan. “If he gets 2 or 3% of the vote because people make mistakes, in a close race that could be the difference.”

The senator, speaking from a local Veterans of Foreign Wars hall at a campaign event, said he was especially frustrated after speaking at a senior center earlier in the day, where he found continued uncertainty about the ballot situation with less than a month to go before Election Day.

“The seniors are confused,” he said.

Sullivan called the presence of the other Sullivan a plot by Democrats to deceive Alaska voters (Daniel J. Sullivan has said he did not coordinate with Democrats and was simply frustrated with the incumbent.)

But other Republicans say they are as much or more concerned about Heikes, who is best known for his strong opposition to abortion rights.

One Republican strategist called the situation “really challenging for Dan.”

“There’s just nothing that can be done about the high rate of ballot exhaustion,” said the strategist, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.

Peltola has benefited from the ranked-choice system before, the strategist added, noting her 2022 special House election victory against two Republican opponents.

Sullivan campaign officials and their allies dispute that they can’t affect the rate at which Republican voters exhaust their ballots and have launched an education effort through mail, phone banks, text messages and door-to-door canvassing that one senior Sullivan official characterized as a $10 million investment. Their efforts are now likely to intensify with the election weeks away.

Ad Wars

Peltola and Sullivan have both complained about relentless campaign ads that, in their telling, are untrue.

Strategists for both parties say they’ve rarely seen anything like what’s happened in Alaska this election cycle. The two parties are on track to spend more than $115 million combined by November on ads alone, according to AdImpact — even though the number of voters able to be swayed by advertising in a small state like Alaska might be as few as 30,000 (an estimate provided by multiple strategists).

Republicans, unsurprisingly, are launching a wave of attacks on Peltola focused on her alleged ties to “lower 48” Democratic leaders and the suspicion that she holds progressive political views.

Among the attacks are direct references to a report from The New York Times last month that alleged Peltola mistreated people who worked for her. The story sparked outrage among Democrats in Washington, who said it was proof not that Peltola was unfit for public service but that her staffers needed to toughen up and recognize the stakes of the election they were working on.

Republicans continue to run with the allegations. At least one Sullivan-aligned super PAC, Last Frontier PAC, was using the allegation in an attack ad last week.

And the senator himself has referenced the report on the stump, saying at an event last week that it proved the Democratic candidate was “unfit to serve.”

Peltola has tried to keep the focus more on the economy. The state had been bashed economically because of the president’s policies, the former congresswoman said during a town hall at a senior center here last week, while many of the state’s residents were in jeopardy of losing health care coverage because of a Republican law backed by Sullivan.

“I feel like Alaskans have had it up to here,” she said. “I feel like Americans have had it up to here, and there is an appetite to correct what has been done even in the last few years.”]]> Mary Peltola Was Pressed on Transgender Rights at a Campaign Event https://www.washingtonsun.com/campaigns/mary-peltola-transgender-protester-campaign-event Alex Roarty The Alaska Democrat told the protester that she hopes “we don’t have to spend one second on a conversation about trans anything” if she gets to the Senate. Thu, 08 Oct 2026 23:09:57 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/campaigns/mary-peltola-transgender-protester-campaign-event Mary Peltola, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate seat in Alaska, addresses supporters.

Peltola released an ad in which t, in a response to Republican attacks, said she doesn’t “want kids getting surgeries to change genders, or men in girls’ bathrooms.” (Mark Thiessen/AP)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A protester confronted Senate Democratic nominee Mary Peltola during a Thursday campaign event over a recent TV ad that critics viewed as anti-trans, pressing the former congresswoman to pledge that she would stand up for transgender rights if elected to Congress this year.

The person confronting Peltola, 23-year-old Nico Wilkerson, later told The Washington Sun that he was no longer planning to vote for the former congresswoman because of her views on trans issues, underscoring the broader difficulty Democratic candidates face this election season as they try to navigate a relentless series of Republican attacks.

Peltola had arrived at a senior center in Anchorage to campaign a few weeks before facing Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in one of the year’s most competitive Senate races. She took a wide range of questions from the audience, which mostly comprised senior citizens, before Wilkerson was handed a microphone.

He asked Peltola about a recent ad in which the candidate, in a response to Republican attacks, said she doesn’t “want kids getting surgeries to change genders, or men in girls’ bathrooms.”

“That is a Republican slander,” Wilkerson told Peltola on Thursday. ”That is a false slander, and you are buying into it by releasing that ad. So my question for you is, do you plan to support trans rights in the Senate if you are elected?”

Peltola did not answer the question directly, saying that the GOP attacks on trans issues were “political theater” meant to distract from the high cost of energy and food.

“My hope is that we don’t have to spend one second on a conversation about trans anything,” she said. “My hope is that we have a Senate that’s serious about fixing American problems and not creating political diversions, not creating and stoking wedge issues that just divide us.”

Democrats this election are more forcefully pushing back on GOP attacks related to trans issues, convinced that their lack of an aggressive response during the 2024 presidential election cost the party votes. The party’s messaging this time around has generally been similar to Peltola’s, with many candidates saying that they don’t believe trans children should be allowed to participate in girls’ sports or reiterating their opposition to gender reassignment surgery for minors.

Democrats have worked hard behind the scenes over the last two years to craft a response to the attacks that satisfies moderates but doesn’t alienate trans people or allies. Some party strategists have said that liberal groups focused on the issue, like the American Civil Liberties Union, have seemingly given the candidates more space this election to respond to GOP attacks without garnering extensive criticism from progressive institutions.

But Wilkerson's frustration shows the extent to which Democratic candidates can still face backlash on the issue from individual voters.

In an interview with The Sun after the event, Wilkerson, who is a transgender man, said he had spoken with Peltola about trans issues weeks earlier at another campaign event in town. At the time, he asked the former representative about a vote she took while in Congress that would deny military families coverage if their child tried to receive gender-affirming care.

“And she said, ‘I wanted to get elected,’” Wilkerson said. “That's what she said: ‘I wanted to get elected.’”

Peltola ended that conversation by telling Wilkerson that Republicans’ attacks against transgender people were unfair.

But a week later, Wilkerson said he saw Peltola’s ad, which he believed reaffirmed the worst GOP talking points about the transgender community instead of rebutting them. And so he decided to confront her Thursday.

“This was my only chance to speak to her directly and let her know the impact of her ad,” Wilkerson told The Sun. “Let her know that I felt personally betrayed by her ad, let her know that she is playing into Republican lies and slander against trans people.”
]]> Dan Sullivan Advances to Face Dan Sullivan in Alaska Senate Race https://www.washingtonsun.com/campaigns/dan-sullivan-advances-alaska-senate-race-name Angie Orellana Hernandez Republicans have accused Dan J. Sullivan of attempting to confuse voters by entering the race for U.S. Senate. Wed, 26 Aug 2026 14:26:14 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/campaigns/dan-sullivan-advances-alaska-senate-race-name Election 2026 Alaska

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, left, and retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan, right, whose decision to run against a man with the same name has confounded Republicans in the state. (AP Photos/Mark Thiessen/Becky Bohrer)

A retired teacher who happens to share the same name as Alaska’s incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan will advance to face him in November’s general election, the Associated Press projected Wednesday.

Dan J. Sullivan’s decision to run against a man with the same name has confounded Republicans in the state, who allege that he is engaging in subterfuge and intends to boost the chances of former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, who is also running for the seat.

Dan J. Sullivan, who is also running as a Republican, placed third in Alaska’s all-party primary, where the top four vote-getters continue on to the general election. He came in behind the Republican lawmaker of 11 years and Peltola, according to a Wednesday vote tabulation. Results were too close to call for the fourth candidate as of Wednesday morning.

Democrats have been vying to flip the seat by targeting Sen. Sullivan’s support for President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the war in Iran. Sen. Sullivan and his allies, including Trump, attempted to boost his campaign by defending his record and accusing Peltola of setting up a fake candidate: Petersburg, Alaska, resident Dan J. Sullivan.

Peltola’s campaign has repeatedly denied being involved with Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign.

“Mary Peltola was in Petersburg days before Sham candidate Dan Sullivan announced his candidacy,” Sen. Sullivan wrote on Facebook in June. “Sham candidate Dan Sullivan had a left-wing political operative help him launch his campaign.”

Legal trouble arose for Dan J. Sullivan in the lead-up to Tuesday’s primary election. Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher initially deemed Dan J. Sullivan ineligible to run, saying in a letter that the Petersburg resident “filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.”

The Alaska Supreme Court overturned Beecher’s decision in June after Sullivan sued to remain on the ballot. He was listed on Tuesday’s ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., while his rival was identified as Dan S. Sullivan.

A third Dan Sullivan — former Anchorage Mayor Dan A. Sullivan — weighed in with an endorsement for the incumbent lawmaker earlier this month. The obstacles have still not impeded the former teacher’s desire to win.

“My name is my name,” Dan J. Sullivan told the Alaska Beacon in June. “The ballot belongs to the people and not to the incumbent.”]]> This Freshman Congressman Is Out-Legislating All Other Lawmakers https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/nick-begich-alaska-legislation-bills Mark Alfred Nick Begich has shepherded more stand-alone bills to Trump’s desk than any other lawmaker this session. Wed, 19 Aug 2026 09:53:08 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/nick-begich-alaska-legislation-bills

Rep. Nick Begich (R-Alaska) has sponsored more successful legislation this session than any other member of Congress. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

The 119th Congress is on track to be one of the least productive in recent history, furthering the trend of fewer and fewer bills ever becoming law. Setting aside the renaming of buildings such as post offices, most House lawmakers have never introduced a bill that a president signed into law.

Rep. Nick Begich III, the freshman lawmaker representing Alaska, is bucking that trend.

Since he entered the House in January 2025, six of Begich’s bills have passed through Congress and earned President Donald Trump’s signature — outpacing every one of his congressional colleagues.

Begich in part attributes his legislative win streak to geography.

“We’ve received a lot of cooperation and recognition on both sides of the aisle that Alaska-specific issues really belong in the hands of the Alaskan that was sent to Congress to represent Alaska,” Begich told NOTUS in an interview.

The Begich name is synonymous with Alaskan politics: The congressman’s grandfather Nick Begich Sr. also served as the state’s at-large representative. His uncle Mark was a U.S. senator from Alaska, and his other uncle Tom is currently running for the state’s governorship. (Unlike the congressman, the other Begiches are Democrats.)

In 2024, Nick Begich III defeated then-Rep. Mary Peltola, the first Democrat to represent Alaska in the House in half a century. Begich placed first in Tuesday’s open primary, coming in about 15 points ahead of his next closest rival, independent Bill Hill. (Both will appear on the general election ballot.)

“In his first term, Nick Begich has proven to be an historically effective member of Congress,” Speaker Mike Johnson, who recently campaigned with Begich in Alaska, said in a statement to NOTUS. “Nick is a workhorse who has set an excellent example of how House Republicans are working to deliver for American families.”

Most of the bills Begich introduced that became law focus on specific issues affecting various Alaskan populations. They passed via voice vote or a near-unanimous roll-call vote before Trump signed them.

One excludes settlement trust payments made to Alaska Natives from counting against their eligibility for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments.

Another extends the window in which Alaska Native Vietnam veterans are able to claim federal land by five years, into 2030.

Yet another allows Cape Fox Corporation to claim its land settlement at a more suitable location within the Tongass National Forest.

Some of the bills had languished in committee for years. The Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act passed last year after decades of delay.

“That's a bill that had been brought up 11 times over 22 years, and we were able to move that bill out of the House for the first time,” Begich said of the long-stalled legislation. “Our objective was to use this political window that we have, this trifecta in government, to move this priority through, and we were able to finally do that through a lot of work by my team and a lot of work by myself and others.”

With the slim GOP majority, his perch on the House Natural Resources Committee and the backing of a president more than eager to “drill, baby, drill,” Begich has unwound Biden-era roadblocks to oil and gas production using a legislative tactic that will be immensely difficult for Democrats to counter even if they win back both chambers after November.

The Republican trifecta “really opened the aperture for Alaska, not just to develop these resources through the actions of an executive administration, but to lock in durably our ability to develop those resources on an ongoing basis, regardless of where the president is,” Begich said.
https://x.com/RepNickBegich/status/1999296590411104304?s=20 Late in his presidency, Joe Biden took a number of actions to disallow new oil and gas drilling in Alaska. One such rule shielded 21 regions of the 3.6 million acre Central Yukon region in Alaska’s interior from development. Another effectively barred new oil and gas leases in the 1.6 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's Coastal Plain, limiting activity in the refuge to 400,000 acres, the statutory minimum, most of which were subject to additional restrictions.

Begich introduced two Congressional Review Act resolutions undoing those protections. Neither was subject to the Senate filibuster, allowing Republicans to pass them with simple majorities in both chambers. The federal government is now disallowed from reinstating new restrictions that are substantially the same unless Congress passes them into law, a process that would be subject to the filibuster.

“We’ve been able to durably repeal a number of the regulatory structures that were imposed upon Alaska during the Biden administration,” Begich said.

Democrats warned of the environmental impacts of new drilling leases, and forced a recorded vote tally on both measures.

“This misguided bill would lock in oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an area known to the Gwich’in people as the sacred place where life begins,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California), the ranking member on the Natural Resources Committee, said at the time of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge measure. “The 9,000-strong Gwich’in Nation, whose subsistence and culture depend on the caribou herd ... making any disruption not only a threat to biodiversity but also an assault on indigenous livelihoods and traditions.”

Begich said Democrats’ opposition stemmed from a deference to activists and donors.

“I don't go to Connecticut to try to shut their forestry down, but those same members vote against Alaska's ability to develop those same industries in our state, and it's a little duplicitous,” Begich said. “You have to look at the donor base and the activist base within the Democrat Party to really understand perhaps where those motivations come from.”

The Alaska delegation’s fingerprints are apparent on Republicans’ first reconciliation bill, which mandated new onshore and offshore oil and gas leasing and new coal mining leases. The state is set to reap “70% of federal royalties” from many of the new leases.

“Congressman Begich has been an incredibly effective partner in delivering results for Alaskans,” Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan told NOTUS. “What we do as a delegation matters — we need Alaska’s representatives in both chambers rowing in the same direction, and Nick works overtime to get practical Alaska priorities across the goal line in the House.”

One area where Begich isn’t meeting resistance to his energy policies is from once-and-future political rivals like Peltola, who has mounted a formidable challenge to Sullivan. Online, her campaign proudly touts her support for oil and gas projects over the objections of other Democrats: “Mary has always been a champion for Alaska energy, consistently standing up to anyone — including Joe Biden — to promote oil and gas development.”

Begich’s independent opponent Hill vows to “go to bat for getting the most out of our oil and natural gas.” Hill is endorsed by Democrat Matt Schultz, who suspended his campaign in July. The independent won't explicitly say which party he’d caucus with.

“Congressman Nick Begich hit the ground running in Congress and is already delivering commonsense wins for Alaska and the American people,” NRCC spokesperson Zach Bannon told NOTUS. “From unleashing energy and expanding access to housing to standing up for Alaska Natives, Begich has proven he’ll always put Alaska first. He’s delivering results, and he’s just getting started.”

The Alaska Democrats did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

“Nick Begich isn’t delivering for his constituents — he’s making hardworking Alaskans pay the price while he profits.” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Anna Elsasser told NOTUS. His “short legislative record consists of rubber-stamping a Washington agenda that’s making life brutally more expensive for Alaskans: crushing fishing, tourism, and small businesses with tariffs, gutting Medicaid, sending health care costs even higher, ripping away food assistance, and backing a costly war that’s pushed gas above $10 a gallon in rural Alaska.”

Before he was first elected, Begich decried the abrasive politics that have defined much of the Trump era.

“The political environment has gotten so caustic that we’re forgetting that we’re all in the same boat together,” he told KCAW in August 2024. “But what is different about yesterday versus today is that while we did disagree, we were able to go out afterward and have dinner together, have a drink together, and respect one another.”

Three days after taking public office, Begich dispensed with that sentiment.

“Joe Biden is a son of a bitch,” he said online after the outgoing president announced a ban on offshore drilling around Alaska and much of the United States’ coastline. The “Democrat machine is more than happy to sacrifice us all in the name of their sanctimonious, socialist-driven, climate science™ religion.”

Begich doesn’t buy into climate science writ large, although he acknowledges the state has gotten warmer.

“Things have been good; it's been probably in the 60s and low 70s, which is just at the peak of heat for us,” Begich said of the weather while on recess from Congress. “It was actually the first-ever heat advisory in Anchorage. It hit like 70-something degrees, and they decided it was too hot for people.”

The state is also “the world’s HOTTEST oil exploration target,” Begich wrote online, borrowing a turn of phrase from the president he’s closely aligned himself with.
TrumpMap (1536x1023, AR: 1.50)Begich’s votes have kept him in Trump’s good graces. Unlike his Senate counterparts, he steered clear of the outcry that followed the president’s renaming of Denali and, as a member of the lower chamber, has not had to involve himself in the bitter fight over the filibuster and SAVE America Act that has led Trump to rail against Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

“I’m against Murkowski … she’s not good," Trump said recently, a sharp contrast to his repeated praise of Begich, having called him a "warrior,” at multiple gatherings.

“Nick. Thank you, Nick. Good job. Good job. Good, good votes,” Trump said during a cryptocurrency event last year. “I just saw a great poll on you, huh? Very good. Congratulations, Nick.”

This article has been updated to include additional comments and legislative details.]]> There’s Only Room for One Dan Sullivan in Alaska Senate Race https://www.washingtonsun.com/2026-election/senator-dan-sullivan-alaska-ballot-republican-challenger Torrie Herrington The newcomer with the same name as the sitting senator was trying to confuse or mislead voters, the election director ruled. Mon, 15 Jun 2026 22:04:16 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/2026-election/senator-dan-sullivan-alaska-ballot-republican-challenger

Sen. Dan Sullivan will be the only Dan Sullivan on Alaska’s primary ballot after the state’s top election official booted another similarly named Sullivan from the race. Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Alaska’s top election official ruled Monday that only one Dan Sullivan will appear on the state’s Senate ballot after Republicans insisted a second Dan Sullivan was only running to undermine the incumbent, Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Division of Elections director Carol Beecher said in a letter to Dan J. Sullivan, the challenger, that his candidacy “was not filed in order to declare an actual good-faith candidacy for the office of United States Senator, but was instead filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.”

Sen. Sullivan’s campaign celebrated the decision as a win for Alaskans.

“Every Alaskan has the right to a free and fair election, free from deception and gamesmanship,” Billy Mackey, Sen. Sullivan’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “We thank Lieutenant Governor Dahlstrom for upholding that right and for ensuring Alaskans can choose their next senator without a sham candidate whose primary purpose was to confuse Alaskan voters, treat Alaskans with contempt, and rig the election for Peltola.”

In Alaska, candidates of all parties compete in an open primary with the top four vote-getters earning a spot in the general election, which is decided by a ranked-choice system.

Sen. Sullivan and other Republicans have accused Dan J. Sullivan of being part of a Democratic scheme to confuse voters, even blaming his candidacy on a ruse by Democratic challenger Mary Peltola.

“Mary Peltola was in Petersburg days before Sham candidate Dan Sullivan announced his candidacy. Sham candidate Dan Sullivan had a left-wing political operative help him launch his campaign,” Sen. Sullivan wrote on Facebook last week. “He is nothing but a fake candidate propped up by Mary Peltola and her far left lower 48 cronies to confuse Alaskans and steal this election. Not a coincidence.”

Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg, filed to run as a Republican for the Senate seat last month — just days before the deadline. He has 30 days to appeal the decision, though ballots in Alaska are scheduled to be printed on June 28.

Peltola's campaign has repeatedly denied being involved with Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign. Her campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday from NOTUS.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee challenged Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy earlier this month.

Dan J. Sullivan did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NOTUS. However, he did write a letter on June 3 in response to the NRSC challenge.

“I wish to give the people of Alaska an alternative choice of representation in the U.S. Senate. Your office may not lawfully deny me the chance to run or Alaska voters the opportunity to vote for me,” Dan J. Sullivan wrote to the elections office.]]>