DemDaily: This Week’s Elections: Alaska
August 21, 2026
Alaska was one of four states that held elections this week as we count down to the end of the primary season.
ALASKA
While still reliably red in presidential elections -- awarding Trump a 14-point victory in 2024 -- Alaskans have shown increasing support for Democrats statewide, consistently securing over 40% of the vote for the first time since the 1960s.
The Frontier State is proudly the country’s most independent by registration, with 57.47% of voters identifying as unaffiliated; 24.25% Republican; 13.17% Democrat; 3.19% Alaskan Independence Party; and 1.92% other political groups.
The political landscape lays the foundation for one of the most competitive US Senate races in 2026 -- one that could flip the state and control of the United States Senate for Democrats.
| Elections: Alaska operates under a nonpartisan blanket primary system where the top four candidates advance to a ranked-choice general election in November. Under Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV), voters rank their preference of candidates on their ballots. If no candidate wins an outright majority in the first round, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. The votes are then recalculated according to the second choice of the last-place finisher's voters. The process is repeated until one candidate has a majority and is declared the winner. |
US Senate
With 80% of the primary vote counted in the rural state, incumbent Republican Dan S. Sullivan (42.7%) and former Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola (48.1%) have secured the top two slots, followed by Daniel J. Sullivan (no relation), a former teacher and Republican, with 2.4%.
The fourth slot among 13 remaining contenders is likely to go to LGBTQ+ and environmental conservation activist David Leslie (D), or perennial GOP candidate Gerald Heikes, both of whom have secured 1.1% of the vote.
Senator Sullivan, who unseated incumbent Democratic Senator Mark Begich in 2014 by just over 6,000 votes and was reelected in 2020 by 12.7%, is a reliable Trump conservative who votes to the right of Alaska's fiercely independent electorate.
Peltola, a former Orutsararmiut Native Council tribal judge, state legislator, and fisheries expert, won the August 2022 Congressional District Special Election to succeed the late Republican Congressman Don Young, who held the seat for 49 years. She defeated Trump-endorsed former Governor Sarah Palin (R) and was easily elected to a full term in November 2022, fending off another challenge by Palin and Nick Begich (R) by more than 20 points. She was the first Alaska Native politician elected to Congress.
While Peltola, 52, was narrowly defeated in 2024 by Begich, 48.4% to 46.3%, she still ranks as the Frontier States' most popular figure, with a 49% public favorability rating.
A July 28-August 4, 2026 Data For Progress (D) survey showed Peltola leading Sullivan 53%-47% in the simulated final ranked-choice round
At-Large US House Seat
Nick Begich III is attempting to hold on to Alaska's sole At-Large Congressional District, considered a midterm battleground seat. The freshman Congressman and former software company entrepreneur, 48, bucked his family's legendary history in Alaska Democratic politics to run as a Club for Growth conservative.
His grandfather, Nick Begich Sr., was killed in a plane crash in 1972 in his first term in Congress, and his uncle Mark Begich served in the US Senate (2009–2015). Another uncle, Tom Begich, is a former Minority Leader of the Alaska State Senate and is a Democratic candidate for governor.
In Tuesday's open primary, Begich secured 46.1% of the vote, followed by Independent Bill Hill, a fisherman and former educator who was named Alaska's 2023 Superintendent of the Year, with 30.9%.
Matt Schultz, a Presbyterian minister and leading Democrat, suspended his campaign and endorsed Hill, but his name remained on the ballot, securing 8% of the vote. He will not appear on the general election ballot. The other two candidates who will advance to the general election have not been confirmed, but it is likely to be Democrats Eric Hafner (3.78%) and John Williams (2.6%). The remaining 10 contenders, with 80% of the vote in, came in under 2.5%.
Governor
Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy is term-limited, making this Alaska's first fully open governor's race in over two decades. A crowded field of 17 candidates, including 12 Republicans, three independents, and two Democrats, ran in Tuesday's primary.
Former Democratic State Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins placed first with 21.6%, followed closely by former Democratic State Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich with 20.1%, and Anchorage businesswoman Bernadette Wilson, a Republican, with 10.5%. Former Republican Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson placed 4th with 8.4%, but the final vote is not expected to be certified until August 31.
More to come on primary results!
DemList will keep you informed.
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