Outside groups report nearly $13 million in Alaska Senate spending in one week

Outside groups reported $12.8 million in spending last week on Alaska's U.S. Senate race between Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola, the most in any week so far, according to an Alaska News tally of Federal Election Commission notices.

Of that, about $7.4 million was against Peltola or for Sullivan, and about $5.4 million was against Sullivan or for Peltola. The biggest single spenders last week were North Star, against Sullivan, and Americans for Prosperity Action, against Peltola and for Sullivan.

Most of it was reported as ad buys, including TV, online and radio ads. The rest mostly covered mail, door-knocking, ad production and text messages.

This is outside money: spending by super PACs and other groups that aren't part of either campaign. They can raise and spend unlimited amounts but can't coordinate this spending with the candidates. Larger expenditures must be reported to the FEC within one or two days, depending on how close the election is. That's much faster than the campaigns, which report their full finances every three months and around elections. Spending by the candidates' campaigns, and party spending coordinated with them, isn't counted here. Many of the figures are estimates that can be revised later.

So far this year, outside groups have reported about $37 million against Peltola or for Sullivan, and about $26 million against Sullivan or for Peltola.

The campaigns' own money is reported separately. From January 2025 through July 29, Peltola's campaign took in about twice as much as Sullivan's and spent more than three times as much, while Sullivan ended that period with more cash on hand, according to their latest FEC reports. New campaign reports are due Thursday, Oct. 15.

The biggest spender is SLF PAC, which registered with the FEC in 2015 as Senate Leadership Fund. It has reported about $12 million in the race, nearly all of it against Peltola. On the other side, North Star, a super PAC that registered July 28, has reported about $10 million, nearly all of it against Sullivan.

About a third of this year's outside spending comes from groups that registered in late July or later and whose first reports listing their donors aren't due until Oct. 15, or Oct. 20 for groups that file monthly. Most of that money has gone against Sullivan or for Peltola, led by North Star. The biggest such group on the other side is No Going Back PAC, which registered Sept. 1 and has reported more than $7 million against Peltola and for Sullivan.

The general election is Nov. 3.

How Alaska News counted: Alaska News added up the 24- and 48-hour spending notices in the FEC's data file as of Oct. 12, grouping them by the Monday-through-Sunday week the FEC received them. It removed reports that were later amended, as the FEC's file description advises, and notices that were filed twice.