Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign declared Wednesday that Senator Dan Sullivan is running out of chances to erase her lead in Alaska's closely watched Senate race, following a new batch of ballots that showed the Republican incumbent making only marginal gains in a traditionally conservative region.
The latest unofficial results from the Alaska Division of Elections put Peltola ahead by 3,975 votes, a slight decrease from the 4,250-vote margin reported on Tuesday. The narrowing came largely from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, a GOP-friendly area where Sullivan picked up just 275 net votes against Peltola—far fewer than his campaign had hoped for.
Peltola's campaign manager, Cheryl Bruce, seized on the numbers, arguing that the Democrat's resilience in conservative-leaning districts signals a fundamental shift. “As Mary continues to overperform in traditionally conservative areas around the state, today's ballot drop is yet another proof point that Sullivan's path to victory is non-existent,” Bruce said in a statement. “Voters are choosing Alaska first over party.”
Bruce also pointed to the remaining uncounted ballots, which she said would likely favor Peltola. “As we've said, tens of thousands of outstanding early votes and absentee ballots from Anchorage and rural Alaska remain uncounted and will break for Mary, sending her to the United States Senate,” she added.
As of Thursday morning, Peltola held 48.57 percent of the vote to Sullivan's 46.98 percent, according to Decision Desk HQ. The race has drawn national attention, partly because of an unusual twist: the presence of a third candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot, which prompted the Trump administration to file a lawsuit in October alleging that voters might confuse him with the incumbent senator.
The Justice Department sought to block certification of any election results tainted by that confusion and asked a federal judge to set aside ballots cast for the similarly named candidate. U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the lawsuit before Election Day, ruling that the administration had not offered a workable solution without risking voter secrecy or disrupting the election. The administration is appealing that decision.
Some critics have accused Peltola's campaign of recruiting the other Sullivan as a spoiler, a claim she has denied. The controversy has drawn scrutiny from federal officials and state authorities. The race remains too close to call, but Peltola's team is increasingly confident as the count continues.
