A high-profile Senate race in Alaska is officially set: Mary Peltola, a Democrat and former congresswoman, and Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican, advanced from the state’s top-four nonpartisan primary on Tuesday night local time, according to The Associated Press. They will face off in November in a race that could determine control of the Senate.
Ms. Peltola was seen as the only Democrat who could pose a formidable challenge to Mr. Sullivan, a two-term incumbent running in a conservative state known for its independent streak. An Alaska Native, Ms. Peltola is a former commercial fisher and a former state legislator. She rose to political stardom with an upset win for the state’s only House seat in 2022, becoming the first Democrat to represent Alaska in the House in decades.
Both candidates have significant resources at their disposal as their parties gear up for a highly competitive sprint to November. Mr. Sullivan, a Marine veteran who is a supporter of President Trump, has forged strong bonds with the state’s various constituencies during his tenure in the Senate, including Native and fishing groups. But he faces headwinds given Alaska’s high cost of living and citizens’ frustrations with the current administration.
One wild card still to be determined is whether a different primary candidate also named Dan Sullivan will advance to the four-person general election ballot. This Mr. Sullivan, a retired teacher from the tiny fishing village of Petersburg, drew criticism from Republicans who decried his candidacy as a Democratic trick meant to confuse voters and split votes with the sitting senator. The Republican-run state elections division removed him from the ballot this summer before being overruled by the courts.
The lesser-known Mr. Sullivan has insisted that his long-shot bid is legitimate and not a ruse. If he advances to the ballot in November, he could play a spoiler role in a state with just about 600,000 registered voters.
Ms. Peltola claimed early momentum this spring after entering the race, but her campaign hit some snags in recent days. Last week, she distanced herself from former Vice President Kamala Harris, who sent out a fund-raising appeal on Ms. Peltola’s behalf that threatened to undermine Ms. Peltola’s image as an independent-minded candidate unaffiliated with national Democrats or politics in the Lower 48.
Her campaign also underwent a staffing shake-up last week, as she fired several longtime campaign aides and contractors and swapped out campaign managers.
