Alaska Senate: Democrats Reach Into The Red
The first Alaska Native to represent the Last Frontier in Congress could be the final piece for a Democratic Senate majority this fall.
Former Rep. Mary Peltola’s decision to run for Senate rather than governor — a race she might have dominated wire to wire — puts this race in contention for Democrats, who now have a proven fundraiser who’s shown she can win an elusive state with a cross-partisan coalition.
GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan, who fended off a well-funded challenger in 2020, is less of a household name than his headline-grabbing colleague Lisa Murkowski. That will have to change as he faces his first midterm election as an incumbent, and first with a Republican in the White House.
With Democrats looking for four pickups across the country, a flip in Alaska could seal the deal for the unlikely but increasingly possible outcome of full change in congressional control this November.
The Lay of the Land
Vast, sparsely populated, and a thousand miles removed from the continental United States, Alaska defies many of the partisan labels placed on states in the “lower 48.”
Alaska tends to vote Republican at the federal level. Donald Trump carried the state by 13 points in 2024, 54-41 percent, by 10 points in 2020, and by 15 points in 2016. Mitt Romney won it by 14 points in 2012. Republicans have a 9.4-point Inside Elections’ Baseline advantage.
The state was once even more Republican. In 2008, John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, dominated by…
