Mary Peltola, the Democratic Senate candidate in Alaska, was leading Dan S. Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, in an incomplete primary vote count early Wednesday, giving hope to Democrats who seek to flip the seat in their bid to regain control of the Senate.
Both Ms. Peltola and Mr. Sullivan advanced to the general election, according to The Associated Press.
But Ms. Peltola was more than five percentage points — or nearly 8,000 votes — ahead of Mr. Sullivan with 80 percent of ballots counted. She has been 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.
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 with 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.
On Wednesday morning, Ms. Peltola got a running start on distancing herself from the national Democratic brand in her first campaign advertisement of the general election cycle. Framed by Alaska’s lush greenery, mountains and open water, she says in the ad that she will “take on anyone, including Democrats,” and that “when both parties are attacking you, you’re doing something right.”
Directly criticizing her party, she adds that Democrats and some others in the “Lower 48” states “don’t get that resource development is about our survival.” She continues: “They don’t get that firearms are for feeding our families and protecting ourselves. That a secure border keeps all Americans safe.”
Mr. Sullivan has made clear that he will push back against Ms. Peltola’s self-portrayal as an independent-minded politician. Celebrating his advancement to the general election at an aviation museum in Anchorage on Tuesday night, he cast himself as a grass-roots candidate focused on local issues while “D.C. Democrats” and “Lower 48 liberals” funded Ms. Peltola’s campaign. (He is also benefiting from a significant amount of spending by Republicans outside of Alaska)
He also took a shot at Ms. Peltola’s recent staff shake-up.
“My campaign’s not melting down like some other campaigns,” Mr. Sullivan said.
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.
