Mary Peltola plunges into Alaska Senate race
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Peltola campaign launch video
Former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) is launching her Senate campaign with a plainly populist "Alaska First" message, vowing to lower costs at home and expose political corruption in Washington.
Why it matters: Peltola's decision to challenge Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) gives Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) a chance to expand the Senate map in 2026.
- Alaska is a red state, but Peltola has won statewide twice. In 2024, she lost her House seat by 2.5% while President Trump won the state by 13%.
Driving the news: In her launch video, Peltola focused on rising grocery costs and declining fisheries, and attacked both Washington and the current political class in Alaska.
- "It's about time Alaskans teach the rest of the country what Alaska First — and, really, America First — looks like," she said, speaking directly to camera.
- "My agenda for Alaska will always be fish, family, and freedom," she said.
What they are saying: "Dan Sullivan delivers for Alaska," said Nate Adams, a spokesperson for the Sullivan campaign.
- "His opponent served a term and a half in Congress where she didn't pass a single bill. Alaskans deserve a senator with a proven record of getting things done, and the contrast couldn't be clearer in this race."
- "Mary Peltola is a dedicated champion for Alaska, and her leadership in the Senate is what working families need to reverse the economic harm caused by Donald Trump and Dan Sullivan," said Lauren French, a spokesperson for the Senate Majority PAC, a Schumer-aligned super PAC.
- "Her entrance into the Senate race completely upends the campaign, putting an already unpopular and weak Dan Sullivan on his heels," she said in a statment.
Zoom out: For months, Schumer and his political operation have been trying to persuade Peltola to mount a comeback bid, signaling the waters were warm by spending roughly $1.5 million targeting Sullivan last year.
- In December, Peltola interviewed potential campaign managers — a strong signal she was preparing to jump into the race, as Axios reported last week.
- Peltola joins other Schumer blue chip recruits, including former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio and former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina.
- But Schumer is also staring down messy primaries in Maine, Texas and Minnesota.
Zoom in: Peltola developed a close relationship with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) when they served together in Congress, but Murkowski quickly endorsed Sullivan this morning.
- "We've had a pretty solid team here in the Senate for the past 12 years, so we want to figure out how we're going to keep in the majority," she told Alaska Public Media. "And Dan delivers that."
- Last week, she seemed less certain.
- "If she were to run against my colleague, yeah — it puts me in a difficult spot," Murkowski told the Alaska Beacon. "But I also think it puts a lot of Alaskans in a difficult spot."
The intrigue: In her campaign video, Peltola didn't mention Murkowski by name, but she broadly criticized Alaska's congressional representation.
- "Our delegation used to stand up to their party and put Alaska first," she said. "DC people will be pissed that I'm focusing on their self-dealing and sharing what I've seen firsthand."
The bottom line: Alaska isn't a massively expensive state to run a statewide campaign.
- But with Peltola in the race, Schumer can force Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and the GOP establishment to spend time and energy defending a seat in a solidly Republican state.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comment from the Sullivan campaign and to note that Sen. Murkowski has endorsed Sullivan.
