Mary Peltola, the former congresswoman from Alaska who is seeking a Senate seat this year, debuted her first television advertisement of the election on Tuesday in a race that Democrats see as a promising wild card in their effort to retake control of Congress.
The $300,000 television and digital advertising buy — small by the ballooning standards of campaign spending in many states but significant in Alaska’s less expensive media markets — amounted to an opening salvo in Ms. Peltola’s high-profile bid to oust Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican.
The 60-second ad spot also appeared to buck the highly partisan nature of many other races in the 2026 cycle, an unusual gambit that reflected a desire to appeal to the independent-mindedness of Alaskans as well as Ms. Peltola’s uphill battle in a Republican state.
It includes no mention of President Trump, Mr. Sullivan, political parties or even the idea that Ms. Peltola is aiming to return to Washington this fall, save for a caption at the very end of the video that reads, “Mary Peltola for U.S. Senate.” Instead, it features Alaskan voters enthusing about Ms. Peltola’s local ties and the fact that she’s had “her boots on the ground, on the riverbanks, in the mud.”
“Mary Peltola will listen to working families, she will listen to small farmers and fishermen,” one speaker says.
Emphasizing her Alaskan roots and appeal to working-class voters while avoiding an embrace of partisan Democratic ideas — such as vilifying Mr. Trump, who won the state in 2024 by 13 percentage points — could be a key for Ms. Peltola in the state. Alaska has an independent streak and has been battered by skyrocketing oil prices under Mr. Trump’s leadership, but tends to reject the national Democratic Party.
The first Alaska Native elected to Congress, Ms. Peltola is widely viewed as someone who can pose a formidable challenge to Mr. Sullivan, at a time when Democrats face a difficult Senate map but increasingly see a pathway to flipping the chamber. She is popular in the state and even well-liked by some Republican rivals; former Gov. Sarah Palin, running against her for the House in 2022, told a crowd, “I love her dearly.”
Still, after entering Congress in an upset victory that year, Ms. Peltola lost her re-election bid in 2024. She is considered an underdog against Mr. Sullivan, a former Marine and veteran of the Bush administration.
Ms. Peltola raised $8.9 million in the first three months of the year — a sum said to be a record for any Senate campaign in Alaska history. Mr. Sullivan raised $2.1 million in the same period. His campaign has yet to advertise on the airwaves, although an outside group aired an ad supporting him in March. He had $7.5 million on hand at the end of the period, more than Ms. Peltola’s $5.7 million. Additionally, a prominent super PAC aligned with Republicans has announced plans to spend $15 million this fall to defend the seat.
Though campaigning in Alaska often does not begin in earnest until the summer, Ms. Peltola has been traversing the state this spring, holding campaign events and rolling out policy ideas for a campaign claiming a focus of “fish, family and freedom.”
Mr. Sullivan has also been busy meeting with Alaskans and has promoted his local endorsements, including one from the largest commercial fishing organization in the state and another from a group representing Alaska Native corporations.
Kellen Browning is a Times political reporter based in San Francisco.
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