Federal race · November 3, 2026
U.S. Senate
U.S. senators vote on federal legislation, confirm presidential nominees and ratify treaties; Alaska elects two senators to staggered six-year terms.
6-year term. Alaska uses a nonpartisan top-four primary and a ranked-choice general election. Four candidates appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. Two candidates share a name: the ballot lists incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan as "Sullivan, Dan S." and the Petersburg candidate as "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr." In June 2026 the Division of Elections removed the Petersburg candidate from the primary ballot; a Superior Court judge reversed that decision and the Alaska Supreme Court upheld the ruling. Fourth-place primary finisher David Leslie (Democrat) withdrew before the Aug. 31 deadline, so fifth-place finisher Gerald L. Heikes advanced. Certified write-in candidates: Sidney "Sid" Hill (Undeclared) and Heather McElwain (Registered Libertarian).
The candidates
Listed alphabetically by last name.
Gerald L. Heikes is a registered Republican from Palmer who has previously run in Alaska's U.S. House primaries and describes himself as a "constitutional Christian conservative." He finished fifth in the August 2026 Senate primary with about 1% of the vote and moved onto the general election ballot after fourth-place finisher David Leslie withdrew. He has no campaign website listed with the Division of Elections.
Mary Peltola
Former U.S. Representative for Alaska (2022–2025)Mary Peltola is a Democrat who represented Alaska in the U.S. House from 2022 to 2025 and earlier served a decade in the Alaska House. She is Yup'ik and was the first Alaska Native elected to Congress. Her campaign centers on fisheries and trawl bycatch, the cost of living and health care, under the slogan "fish, family, freedom."
Dan S. Sullivan
U.S. Senator from Alaska (since 2015)Dan S. Sullivan is a two-term Republican U.S. senator, a former Alaska attorney general and natural resources commissioner, and a retired Marine Corps Reserve colonel. He is seeking a third term with a focus on oil and gas development, fisheries, military investment in Alaska and the 2025 federal tax cuts.
Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.
Retired elementary school teacherDaniel J. Sullivan Jr. is a registered Republican and retired elementary school teacher who has lived in Petersburg since 1980 and worked for the U.S. Forest Service. He says he is running because he is dissatisfied with the incumbent senator and wants a senator who listens to constituents. He finished third in the August primary with about 2.5% of the vote.
Compare on the issues
Summaries of each candidate's stated positions. See each profile for sources and details.
| Issue | Gerald L. Heikes Republican | Mary Peltola Democratic | Dan S. Sullivan Republican | Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. Republican |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abortion | Said in a 2024 interview that there should "absolutely" be a nationwide abortion ban, including in cases of rape and incest. | Supports abortion rights and says she would protect Alaskans' right to privacy. | Supported the 2022 Dobbs decision returning abortion regulation to states and elected officials; describes himself as a pro-life Catholic. | No public position found yet |
| Elections & Democracy | No public position found yet | Supports term limits for members of Congress. | No public position found yet | Says every qualified citizen should be able to seek office and that he supports fair elections and equal access to the ballot. Says he opposes efforts to keep candidates like him off the ballot. |
| Energy & Environment | No public position found yet | Says oil and gas drilling in ANWR is allowed under federal law, and says her work led the Biden administration to approve the Willow project. | Says he helped write the mandatory oil and gas lease sales for ANWR, NPR-A and Cook Inlet in the 2025 reconciliation law, and criticizes Biden-era agency actions that canceled or limited those sales. | No public position found yet |
| Fisheries | No public position found yet | Supports a crackdown on trawl bycatch of salmon and other species and says federal fishery managers do not adequately weigh subsistence users and salmon. | Is the sole sponsor of the Bycatch Reduction Act; says he secured a ban on Russian seafood imports and is seeking a similar ban on Chinese seafood. | No public position found yet |
| Health Care | No public position found yet | Says she would push to reverse federal health care cuts and lower health care costs. | In December 2025 voted to advance a Democratic bill extending enhanced ACA premium subsidies for three years, which fell short of 60 votes; his office says he wants to "extend and reform" the subsidies. | No public position found yet |
| Infrastructure | No public position found yet | Supports codifying the Supreme Court's 2025 NEPA ruling to shorten permitting litigation, and says she would fund the Marine Highway System and Railbelt grid. | Supports federal permitting bills, including the SPEED Act, to speed environmental reviews and limit lawsuits against projects. | No public position found yet |
| Foreign Policy | No public position found yet | Says the war with Iran is raising gas and diesel prices in Alaska. | No public position found yet | No public position found yet |
| Guns | No public position found yet | Says she supports gun rights and owns "176 long guns"; lists NRA membership. | No public position found yet | No public position found yet |
| Immigration | No public position found yet | No public position found yet | Says he is working to secure the border and stop the flow of fentanyl; voted for the Laken Riley Act. | No public position found yet |
| Taxes | No public position found yet | No public position found yet | Supported the 2025 tax law and says it cut taxes for working families, small businesses and seniors. | No public position found yet |