Peltola tells voters ‘forget party’ in new campaign ad

Former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) launched a new campaign ad that notably distances herself from the Democratic Party, telling voters to “forget party, forget politics.”

“With me, Alaska comes first,” Peltola said in the ad , before touting her “A rating” from the National Rifle Association (NRA). “I took on Joe Biden to secure the border and push through Alaska’s largest oil project in decades.”

“It’s why I’ve got no tolerance for any politician who uses their office to get rich,” she concluded.

Peltola is an unlikely challenger against incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska). Her moderate, Alaska-first bid has drawn widespread support in the Last Frontier, fueling Democrats’ hopes of flipping the seat.

Alaska has sided with President Trump in each of his three presidential races. In 2024, Peltola lost Alaska’s at-large House seat to Republican Rep. Nick Begich. The state has also elected a Democrat to the Senate just once in the past 50 years.

Cook Political Report rates this year’s race as a “toss-up,” writing in its race summary that Peltola is “well-positioned.”

An AARP poll conducted by pollsters Fabrizio Ward and Impact Research found Peltola ahead of Sullivan at 46 percent support to his 41 percent, with 7 percent of respondents undecided.

She found major ground when she focused her campaign around opposition to large-scale trawling, which has been credited as a major reason for stocks of salmon, crab and halibut running low in critical regions of the state.

In September, Peltola’s campaign faced controversy for a New York Times report that detailed profane outbursts and displays of anger throughout the campaign and her former congressional office, citing several former Peltola aides who requested anonymity.

Her campaign denied the allegations concerning the workplace environment but did acknowledge that she “sometimes struggled to deal with her grief” after the 2023 deaths of her mother and husband . The campaign also told the Times that Peltola had used an ableist slur and regretted doing so, but it denied allegations that she had used a homophobic slur.