Alaska's US Senate race

Alaska’s US Senate race

By Alex DeMarban
Anchorage Daily News, Alaska

(Anchorage Daily News) — Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan has reliably backed most major oil and mining projects in Alaska while his Democratic challenger Mary Peltola has supported development, but with a more nuanced approach.

Their campaigns said this week that they support oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, though Peltola’s past actions in that area have raised questions among critics on both sides of the political aisle.

And while Sullivan supports the Donlin gold mining project in Southwest Alaska and the 200-mile Ambler Road to a mineral district in Northwest Alaska, Peltola’s campaign stopped short of a full-throated endorsement but said she supports their “regulatory advancement.”

Peltola, who was elected to the U.S. House in 2022 after the death of longtime Rep. Don Young but lost her bid for re-election two years later, is challenging Sullivan for the Senate seat he has held since 2015.

Part of the moderate Blue Dog caucus when she served in the House, Peltola said last week that she favored development of ConocoPhillips’ giant Willow oil field on Alaska’s North Slope, approved in 2023 by the Democratic Biden administration.

“I will stand up to anyone to put Alaska first, and no one from the Lower 48 will ever tell me how to vote or how to think,” she said in a statement.

“That’s why I took on my own party to secure the Willow project after years of delays and why I was proud to introduce legislation to open ANWR and NPRA for oil development, with input from Alaska’s fishermen,” she said.

Alaska’s US Senate race

“No two resource development projects are the same, and it’s critical that projects have social licensure to operate, but I will always defend the right of Alaskans to develop our own resources so that we can lower costs and create good-paying jobs that support Alaska families,” she said.

Both candidates also say they oppose the Pebble copper and gold mining project, although the Alaska Democratic Party has strived to raise doubts about Sullivan’s stance as he refuses to answer questions about his handling of longtime campaign contributions from Pebble executives.

Sullivan opposes the Pebble prospect, his campaign said.

“Senator Sullivan has consistently said no to Pebble Mine, and any efforts to suggest otherwise are dishonest attacks by Mary Peltola’s allies to cover up her embarrassing flip-flops on resource development in Alaska,” Nate Adams, spokesperson for Sullivan’s campaign, said in a statement last week.

The message matters

Peltola’s positions on conservation are a reminder of how big a role resource development plays in Alaska politics.

They come shortly after Peltola reported a record fundraising quarter, with a huge number of individual donations, for a race that could determine whether Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate.

Peltola served in the U.S. House for a little more than two years before losing to Nick Begich in 2024.

Alaska’s US Senate race

She has recently focused her campaign on affordability, proposing to lower federal income taxes for many Alaskans as gas prices and inflation jump during the U.S. war against Iran, and Alaskans’ pessimism about the economy has sunk to multi-year lows.

Pollster Matt Larkin, owner of Dittman Research, said Alaskans typically support big oil and mining projects in surveys. But they also want to protect the environment.

Republican candidates usually have the advantage with voters when it comes to resource development, since they typically favor it, he said.

“It’s probably a bigger challenge for a Democratic candidate to navigate,” he said.

But how candidates address big projects matters, he said.

“A lot of it comes down to how good campaigns are at executing a message,” he said.

As a senator, Sullivan has frequently aligned himself with President Donald Trump’s efforts to expand drilling, mining and other development in Alaska.

Sullivan, a former Alaska attorney general and retired U.S. Marine, has highlighted his support for several projects, including the Willow oil field; a recent, successful oil and gas lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska; and efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Sullivan recently won the endorsement of the ANCSA Regional Association, which represents the 12 Alaska Native regional corporations, the state’s top corporate earners.

The group has previously supported Peltola, the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress.

Alaska’s US Senate race

It said in a statement last week that Sullivan has successfully advocated for Alaska Native people and their corporations, along with the state’s broader economy, in part by expanding access to federal contracting for Alaska Native corporations. ANCSA pointed to Sullivan’s support for two different provisions in 2019 and 2025 respectively easing access to federal contracting, which ANCSA Regional Association Chair Shauna Hegna said makes him “a true ally.”

Peltola’s path on projects

Peltola’s past positions on some of the state’s big projects have generated criticism from both sides of the aisle.

Before losing to Begich, Peltola backed the controversial Donlin gold prospect in Southwest Alaska where she’s from, angering critics of the mine who say she had previously opposed it as a candidate.

Peltola had once worked for Donlin Gold as a community manager. But she left in 2014 after six years, when a dam burst at the Mount Polley mine in British Columbia, contaminating rivers. She later became executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, working with tribes that help manage salmon stocks in the river.

Peltola’s campaign last week said she has supported allowing Donlin and the Ambler Road to move ahead in the regulatory process so Alaska communities can decide the future of the project.

Alaska’s US Senate race

Industry advocates also criticized Peltola’s position on Alaska’s Right to Produce Act, which sought to achieve oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and expand drilling opportunities in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

Peltola abstained from the act by voting “present” in 2024, though she had previously supported it as the only Democratic co-sponsor.

Peltola had concerns about the bill’s impact to fisheries, her campaign said last week.

She introduced new legislation designed to open ANWR and NPR-A for oil development while still protecting fisheries, they said.
Sullivan is pressed on Pebble donation

Sullivan, for his part, hasn’t escaped questions from opponents about his stance on Pebble, though his campaign says he has consistently opposed it.

The Alaska Democratic Party last month took pains to raise those doubts, pointing out that Sullivan has refused to answer questions about donations from Pebble executives during his 2020 win over independent Al Gross.

Sullivan said at the time that he would donate contributions he’d received from former Pebble chief executive Tom Collier, amounting to $6,400, to charity. The statement came after Collier was caught on secretly recorded tapes asserting that he had influence over Alaska politicians.

Sullivan said then that he opposed the mine and agreed with the Trump administration’s conclusion that Pebble should not be permitted and does not meet the standard for development.

Alaska’s US Senate race

In subsequent years, including in 2023, he has reiterated that he “opposed the mine” after the Trump administration went through a regulatory process that denied the permit.

Despite that, the Alaska Democratic Party said last month that Sullivan “has a long relationship of advocacy for the Pebble project.” The party noted that in 2010 then-Attorney General Sullivan defended the state Department of Natural Resources’ process for issuing exploration permits for the mine.

The group also said Sullivan defended the mine’s developer in the case. The Pebble Partnership had been granted intervener status on the side of the state.

The Alaska Democratic Party last month also highlighted a video meeting that Sullivan’s office held with some constituents.

As Sullivan waved goodbye to end the meeting, someone asked if he “a second for one more question.”

Sullivan said “Nope,” and that he had another appointment.

The person then asked why Sullivan broke his pledge to “return the money” from Collier.

Sullivan again said he had to run, and left.

In the race against Peltola, Sullivan has continued to accept donations from the project’s current chief executive. John Shively has given Sullivan two $500 contributions.

Sullivan’s campaign did not answer questions for this story about whether he donated any of the money from the executives to charity.

His campaign also did not say why Sullivan has declined to address the issue.