Trump Rallies for Incumbent Sullivan
President Donald Trump held a rally in Wasilla, Alaska, on Tuesday, about 45 miles north of Anchorage, to boost Republican Senator Dan Sullivan's re-election bid. Trump told the crowd to support the real Dan Sullivan and reject the fake one, claiming the challenger was put up by Democrats to confuse voters. He noted that the other Daniel Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher also running as a Republican, received 2.5% in the August primary, calling that too much and potentially decisive.[S1][S2][S3]
Voters casting ballots on November 3 will see the sitting senator listed as "(Registered Republican) Incumbent." Trump also took aim at ranked-choice voting, the system Alaska put in place following a 2020 referendum, describing it as a scam and pressing voters to back a measure repealing it. Under that system, Alaskans may rank as many as five candidates on their ballots.[S1][S4]
Peltola Campaign and Alaska Issues
Speaking before Trump took the stage, Sullivan charged that Democrat Mary Peltola intended to damage Alaska's oil and gas sector. He claimed Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer and their Democratic partners targeted the state through executive orders meant to shut it down, eliminate jobs and raise energy prices, and that Peltola neither resisted nor blocked those efforts but instead helped them along. A Peltola campaign spokesperson said she anticipates partnering with President Trump to unlock Alaska energy and bring costs down once she wins the Senate seat, adding that she spent Tuesday in Kotzebue in northwest Alaska discussing lower costs and combating DC corruption with residents.[S1]
Peltola first captured a U.S. House seat in a 2022 special election held after the passing of Don Young, the long-serving Republican congressman, and then secured a full term later that same year. Republican Nick Begich unseated her in 2024, and he is now running to keep the seat. Surveys conducted recently indicate the Senate contenders are running even in a state that last sent a Democrat to the Senate in 2008.[S1]
