Alaska’s Democratic Senate nominee, former Rep. Mary Peltola, attempted to distance herself from the party label in a new advertisement campaign, telling voters, “If it’s not good for Alaska, it’s not getting my vote.”
Peltola’s ad referenced several of her GOP-aligned votes in 2024, which condemned the Biden administration’s border policies and pushed through increased border security funding. The ad also referenced that she currently has an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, although the association has endorsed her opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), who has an “A+” rating.
“Forget party, forget politics. With me, Alaska comes first. I earned an A rating from the NRA. I took on [Former President] Joe Biden to secure the border, and pushed through Alaska’s largest oil project in decades,” Peltola says in a new 30-second ad, with the oil project referring to her work on ConocoPhillips’s Willow Project venture.
Peltola has asserted throughout her campaign that she can deviate from party lines, pointing to her record of “standing up to anyone” for policies she backs, “including Joe Biden,” as her campaign wrote in a September press release. Peltola’s ad follows nationwide efforts by Democrats to come off as anti-establishment, a push that helped many Democrats, both centrists and socialists, succeed in their party’s primaries.
But Peltola was one of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) prized recruits of the 2026 election cycle, giving her critical backing from the Democratic establishment. Sullivan’s campaign spokesman, Nate Adams, pointed to Peltola’s vote in 2023 against H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, calling it the “strongest border security bill” passed on the House floor.
“Mary Peltola can run from the Democrat label in a TV ad, but she can’t hide from her voting record,” Sullivan’s spokesman said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “When she bothered to show up to work, Mary Peltola voted with Joe Biden 95% of the time, including voting against the strongest border security bill the House passed.”
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Peltola’s campaign for comment.
ALASKA BALLOT SITUATION PUTS THREE REPUBLICANS AGAINST ONE DEMOCRAT IN TWO STATEWIDE RACES
Polls in Alaska’s Senate race have been largely split and show mainly close, single-digit differences between Peltola and Sullivan, as two other Republican candidates, former U.S. Forest Service employee Dan J. Sullivan Jr. and former U.S. House candidate Gerald Heikes, are also on the ballot.
Cook Political Report lists the race as a toss-up in the state that President Donald Trump, who has endorsed Sen. Sullivan, won by 13 percentage points.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
