Mary Peltola Finishes First in Alaska's Senate Primary — Ahead of the Incumbent — and Dan Sullivan, Whose Ballot Line Was Shadowed by a Second Dan Sullivan, Says Democrats Tried to "Steal an Election"

August 18, 2026

Alaska's nonpartisan top-four primary on August 18, 2026 sent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola to a November general election that the Cook Political Report rates a toss-up. Peltola led on primary night with roughly 48 percent to Sullivan's 42.8 percent — a first-place finish for the challenger over a two-term incumbent, though Alaska's primary sends the top four candidates forward regardless of margin and Peltola led the 2024 House primary before losing that November. The race was dominated by the presence of a second Republican candidate named Dan Sullivan — a Petersburg man who filed as Dan J. Sullivan and drew 2.4 percent. Sen. Sullivan and President Trump called the candidacy a Democratic trick; Trump posted on Truth Social two days before the primary that "the Crooked, Radical Left Dumocrats have put up another man named 'Dan Sullivan'" and told voters on primary day to pick the incumbent. Peltola's campaign said it had no involvement with either Dan Sullivan. Peltola, who has outraised Sullivan roughly $18 million to $12 million and campaigns on "fish, family, freedom," attacked the senator's votes as service to "corporate greed" and to the reconciliation law she says pushed 10,000 Alaskans off Medicaid. Sullivan, who won Trump's endorsement, dismissed the primary-night numbers, renewed his objection to Alaska's ranked-choice system, and accused national Democrats and the Peltola campaign of complicity in trying to trick Alaska voters. Democrats need a net four seats to take the Senate.