Money floods a dead-even Alaska Senate race

Money is pouring into Alaska's U.S. Senate race at a scale the state has rarely, if ever, seen — and with a week to the Aug. 18 primary, the two front-runners are running dead even.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, and Mary Peltola, the former Democratic congresswoman challenging him, sit within the margin of error in the latest polling. An Alaska Survey Research poll taken Aug. 2-5 put Peltola at 50.8% and Sullivan at 49.2% in the final ranked-choice round — a 1.6-point gap inside the poll's 3-point margin, meaning neither holds a real lead. An earlier June survey had Sullivan narrowly ahead, also within the margin.

Through June, federal filings showed Peltola with about $15.6 million raised to Sullivan's $11.1 million, and Peltola's campaign puts total spending in the state at $30 million, a figure it hasn't documented. Outside groups have piled in, and both camps are attacking the other's money. A pro-Sullivan group aired an ad hitting Peltola on fish bycatch; Peltola says Sullivan has taken nearly $400,000 from the trawl industry, which his campaign counters is closely monitored. Sullivan's campaign accused Peltola of taking $140,000 from "Epstein associates" — a claim drawn from a conservative news article, not campaign filings, that establishes no donor wrongdoing and drew no quoted response from Peltola. It also faulted her for paying herself from campaign funds, which federal rules allow a candidate who holds no office. Sullivan's own record on the Epstein files is mixed — he voted last year to block one release measure before consenting to a transparency act that later passed.

Their clash is sharpest over fisheries and cost of living. Peltola wants to ban factory trawling and blames Sullivan for rural fuel above $20 a gallon; Sullivan points to his bycatch bill and $10 million he secured in energy aid. Labor is split — the federal workers' union and the state AFL-CIO back Peltola, a Teamsters local and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce back Sullivan.

One quirk awaits voters — a second Republican, Dan J. Sullivan Jr., is on the ballot, cleared by the state Supreme Court despite the incumbent's "sham" complaint. The top four finishers advance to Nov. 3.