Sealaska endorses Peltola for U.S. Senate

Sealaska, the regional Alaska Native corporation for Southeast Alaska, has endorsed Mary Peltola for U.S. Senate, citing her fisheries advocacy. But Sealaska's choice runs against the bigger institutional current in the race. The ANCSA Regional Association, which represents the leaders of the 12 land-based Alaska Native regional corporations, has endorsed her opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan, and Sealaska is one of those 12.

Sealaska, owned by more than 26,000 Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian shareholders, framed its endorsement around resource abundance and coastal ways of life. "Mary Peltola understands that thriving communities depend on abundance," the corporation said in a statement released by Peltola's campaign. It is not a new position for Sealaska, which endorsed Peltola in her 2022 and 2024 U.S. House races as well, citing shared priorities on sustainable fishing and ocean health.

The association endorsement went the other way. The ANCSA Regional Association is a nonprofit that brings together the presidents and CEOs of the state's 12 regional corporations, its top corporate earners, to advocate on shared issues. It backed Sullivan, pointing to his work expanding federal contracting access for Alaska Native corporations, with association Chair Shauna Hegna saying his support for provisions in 2019 and 2025 easing that access makes him "a true ally." An endorsement by the association reflects its leadership, not a vote of all 12 corporations, as Sealaska's own backing of Peltola shows. Notably, the corporations the association represents had generally favored Peltola before, making its endorsement of Sullivan a shift worth watching.

The split extends to fisheries groups. Sullivan holds the endorsement of United Fishermen of Alaska, the state's largest commercial fishing organization, whose president cited his record on the state's fisheries. Peltola, a former commercial fisherman who has toured Southeast Alaska, has centered her campaign on fisheries, and points to bycatch from out-of-state factory trawlers as a driver of declining salmon runs. She has said Alaska's salmon returns have collapsed to less than one returning fish per spawner, a figure she cites on the campaign trail; it reflects her characterization of the decline rather than an independently confirmed statistic.

Her broader platform calls for boosting oil and gas development to lower energy costs, even as she has criticized some Arctic drilling legislation for pitting energy against fisheries. Peltola has also been endorsed by the Alaska AFL-CIO and the American Federation of Government Employees.

Sealaska's endorsement statement, released by the Peltola campaign, contained no response from Sullivan or opposing voices.