Senate Race Stands at 1.2-Point Gap With 70% of Precincts Reporting

Anchorage, Alaska. Incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola are separated by a 1.2 percentage point margin as election officials process a second batch of results for the state's U.S. Senate contest. With approximately 70% of precincts reporting Tuesday night, Sullivan held 48.6% of the vote while Peltola captured 47.4%. Retired Petersburg teacher Dan J. Sullivan, who shares the incumbent's name, accounted for 1.7% of the total.

The race has been complicated by a dispute over the second Sullivan's candidacy, which has triggered federal and state investigations. A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department on Sunday that sought to block election certification if the incumbent lost. The department is appealing that decision. U.S. Attorney for Alaska Michael Heyman announced a criminal investigation on Friday, though he stated he was not assuming a crime had occurred.

Peltola addressed supporters at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel after early results favored her. She described the outcome as part of a political shift and said, "We are winning our state back." She added, "It just feels so good to let go and be part of this wave." At the event, she took a photograph with hundreds of attendees.

Sullivan spoke to a crowd at the Hotel Captain Cook alongside Rep. Nick Begich III. He noted that while national results leaned Democratic, he remained optimistic about Alaska. "This is a little depressing out there, but we don't think that blue wave is going to crest up in Alaska, right? Because of your hard work," Sullivan said. He pointed to long lines at polling sites on the Kenai Peninsula as evidence of strong turnout in Republican areas.

The presence of two candidates with the same name has drawn attention to ballot composition strategies. Super PACs aligned with both parties spent more than $2 million on these efforts this year. Peltola denied knowledge of a recruitment operation behind the second Sullivan's candidacy, telling reporters in Anchorage and Bethel that she was kept out of the process. "I'm sure that I was kept out of it because they know I would never allow this," she said.

Alaska will accept mailed ballots for 10 days, or 15 days for those sent from overseas. If no candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, the Division of Elections will determine the winner through ranked-choice voting. Tabulations for this process are scheduled for Nov. 18. The state plans to make its ballot data file available during the count, which would allow the Associated Press to conduct its own tabulation.

Peltola, a former congresswoman, would become the first Alaska Native and the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state since 2008. Sullivan, a Marine veteran and former attorney general, is in his second Senate term. He campaigned on military presence and natural resource development, while Peltola focused on affordability and salmon bycatch regulations.