Overview:
Mary Peltola’s campaign says the latest Alaska ballot count strengthens her lead over Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, with his modest gains in the traditionally conservative Mat-Su region doing little to narrow her 3,975-vote advantage.
Native Vote 2026
Mary Peltola’s campaign says the latest ballot count in Alaska’s closely watched U.S. Senate race further strengthens her position against Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, pointing to his relatively modest gains in a traditionally conservative region of the state.
The Alaska Division of Elections released an additional 5,578 ballots, largely from the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) area, a region that has historically favored Sullivan. According to the Peltola campaign, Sullivan gained just 275 votes from the latest batch, making little progress in narrowing Peltola’s 3,975-vote lead.
Cheryl Bruce, campaign manager for Alaskans for Mary, said the latest results demonstrate that Sullivan is struggling to gain ground even in areas where he traditionally performs well.
“As Mary continues to overperform in traditionally conservative areas around the state, today’s ballot drop is yet another proof point that Sullivan’s path to victory is non-existent,” Bruce said.
“We anticipated far stronger support for Sullivan coming from the Mat-Su area, and by only chipping away 275 votes, it is clear that Sullivan’s remaining pockets of support are getting smaller by the day. Voters are choosing Alaska first over party.”
According to the campaign, Peltola leads Sullivan by 3,975 votes, with 48.9% of the total vote. The campaign says she remains positioned to potentially secure an outright victory in the first round of counting.
The campaign also pointed to tens of thousands of outstanding early-in-person and absentee ballots, including thousands from rural Alaska and Anchorage, as a potential source of additional support for Peltola.
Bruce said the campaign expects those ballots to continue favoring Peltola, citing her performance among early-in-person and absentee voters in similar regions in previously released ballot batches.
The campaign characterized Sullivan’s latest showing in Mat-Su as evidence that his remaining support is diminishing.
“Voters are choosing Alaska first over party,” Bruce said.
The campaign expressed confidence that Peltola would prevail once all ballots are counted.
“When every vote is counted, Mary Peltola will be Alaska’s next United States Senator,” the campaign said.
