JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola said on Monday she would challenge Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in this year's midterm elections, delighting party leaders who view her candidacy as critical for efforts to retake control of the U.S. Senate.
Peltola is among a handful of Democrats who have recently won statewide elections in red states, and she vowed to shake up the establishment to make life more affordable for Alaskans.
“Life is difficult here, and we know that we have to take care of each other,” Peltola said in a video announcement.
Democrats must flip four seats to win the majority in the 100-member Senate, a task that would require ousting Republicans in states recently won by Donald Trump in the presidential election, while also defending their own incumbents.
Peltola, who is Yup’ik, was the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress. She won special and regular elections in 2022 for Alaska’s only House seat, defeating a field that included Republican former Gov. Sarah Palin. In 2024, Peltola lost to Republican Nick Begich, who had unsuccessfully run in 2022.
Her time in Congress was marked by tragedy. Her mother died in 2023, and her husband died in a plane crash later that year.
Peltola focused on local concerns in her announcement, saying Alaska's future depends on fixing the “rigged system in D.C. that’s shutting down Alaska, while politicians feather their own nests.”
She said the salmon and migratory birds that once filled the freezers of Alaska Native subsistence hunters are now harder to find, forcing families who live far from the state's limited road system to rely on grocery stores for pricey staples, driven up by high transportation costs.
“It’s not just that politicians in D.C. don’t care that we’re paying $17 for a gallon of milk in rural Alaska," she said. "They don’t even believe us. They’re more focused on their stock portfolios than our bank accounts.”
Alaska could prove to be difficult political terrain. Sullivan, a former state attorney general and natural resources commissioner, defeated the state's last Democratic senator in 2014.
He reported $4.7 million available in his last campaign finance report, which included the third quarter of 2025. New reports are expected soon.
Still, Democrats were upbeat about Peltola's bid.
State party chair Eric Croft called Peltola “our most steadfast champion and a strong voice for Alaskans in every region of our state.” Lauren French, a spokesperson for the Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic campaign organization, said Peltola's decision to run “completely upends the campaign.”
Most registered voters in Alaska aren’t affiliated with a political party. Both the state House and the state Senate are controlled by bipartisan coalitions.
The Republican National Committee said Peltola became “a rubber stamp for the far-left the second she got to Washington.”
"Alaskans saw through her empty promises then showed her the door, and she’ll lose to Dan Sullivan who fights for Alaskans every day,” RNC spokesperson Nick Poche said in a statement.
While serving in Washington, Sullivan has been involved in military and resource development issues. He was endorsed by Trump in 2020.
Nate Adams, a campaign spokesman for Sullivan, said the senator “has spent years delivering real results” while “his opponent served a term and a half in Congress where she didn’t pass a single bill."
Peltola has long touted her ability to work across party lines, such as supporting the large Willow oil project on Alaska’s North Slope. She angered some Democrats in 2024 when she refused to endorse then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race won by Trump.
Peltola said Alaska’s Republican congressional delegation used to ignore partisanship and do what was right for the state, such as backing public media and disaster relief, and even invoked Republican former Sen. Ted Stevens.
“It’s about time Alaskans teach the rest of the country what Alaska First and, really, America First looks like,” Peltola said.
Alaska has open primaries and ranked choice voting in general elections. The top four vote-getters in the August primary regardless of party affiliation will advance to the November general election.
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Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.