Peltola posts a record $7 million quarter in the Alaska Senate race

Mary Peltola's U.S. Senate campaign raised $7 million in the second quarter of 2026, a record second-quarter haul for an Alaska Senate candidate and a sign of the national money pouring into her bid to unseat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

The campaign says about 95% of that came in donations of $100 or less, averaging roughly $50, from more than 160 Alaska communities. Those figures are the campaign's own; full federal filings, which show how much comes from inside Alaska versus out of state, hadn't been independently reviewed at publication.

That gap matters here. In the first quarter, Peltola far outraised Sullivan — but most of both candidates' money came from outside Alaska, and Sullivan has consistently held more cash on hand despite raising less, the advantage of a longer-running incumbent campaign. His second-quarter total wasn't available at publication.

Money raised is also only part of the picture. Outside groups are expected to spend heavily on both sides: the Senate Leadership Fund, aligned with Republicans, has named Alaska among the states where it will spend to keep Sullivan in office. And the reporting period follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling letting parties spend unlimited sums in coordination with candidates — a change that could pour far more party money into races like this one, for both parties.

The contest is rated among the country's most competitive. Cook Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball, two nonpartisan handicappers, have shifted their Alaska ratings toward Peltola, though the state has a long history of favoring Republicans in federal races.

Peltola said Alaskans "want solutions to rising costs, scarcity, and a rigged system in DC." Sullivan, a second-term senator and former Marine, has said he expects to be outspent but plans to win, as he did in 2014 and 2020 when he was outraised.