It’s a race I thought would be a slog, and it might still be, but the narrative around Democrat Mary Peltola’s candidacy is fortified. The former congresswoman is projected to be one of the main rivals for Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), who’s running for reelection. The state uses a top-four primary to determine who qualifies for the general election, so this field is chock-full of Democrats, Republicans, and others. Then there’s ranked choice voting. Yet while Peltola is leading, albeit within the margin of error, she blew up her campaign operation, and Sullivan’s camp released some internal polling. This race could be insane.
Peltola has name recognition going for her, but something must be up — no one nukes their campaign days before the primary if things are going swimmingly. Top staffers were axed in what’s been described as a Saturday Night Massacre, with chaos and mayhem engulfing the operation. The Alaska Landmine broke the scoop, which was confirmed by New York Times reporters.
And now, Dan Sullivan’s camp shows that Peltola’s unfavorables have increased by double digits — the rather blunt and rude rejection of Kamala Harris’ endorsement — all of which point to the congresswoman thinking she’s hit a ceiling with her current operative class.
#AKSEN NEWS:
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) August 17, 2026
A new internal poll of the Senate race shows @MaryPeltola now underwater -- columns here are polling trends from January, April, July, and August
Great news for @DanSullivan_AK pic.twitter.com/4OvVrqBlFJ
Dan Sullivan internal poll | released 8/17
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) August 17, 2026
(Alaska surveyed)
Mary Peltola favorables
❌Unfavorable 45% (+10)
✅Favorable 44% (-3)
(Change from January 2026)#AlaskaSenate pic.twitter.com/khx2zsFfxO
DEAR LORD
— Seth Keshel (@RealSKeshel) August 17, 2026
A Trump +22 poll in a Trump +13 state with a D+6 outcome and people believe it?
This woman just canned her entire campaign staff. If this result were true Democrats would be flipping Florida. https://t.co/FCdETsqQ7B
Cool story, but Peltola *voted* with Biden-Harris more than 80% of the time: https://t.co/7MoFV1LI7T pic.twitter.com/fyImymg4Lm
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) August 17, 2026
you gotta stop pouncing like this @nickpuglia pic.twitter.com/YpDKQ2tCFB
— Sarah Gallagher (@sgallz_) August 17, 2026
don’t worry, people usually do this when things are just going too well https://t.co/8MAEI3uf4t
— Sarah Gallagher (@sgallz_) August 17, 2026
Yeah, me thinks this campaign is a Potemkin village. There’s a dumpster fire over the horizon. It might look like tasty Eskimo pie, but the ice cream is rancid.
We’ll find out later tonight.
