Peltola Campaign Claims Victory in Uncalled Alaska Senate Race as Judge Denies Absentee-Ballot Request
Democrat Mary Peltola leads Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by 4,250 first-choice votes, but the Associated Press has not called the race, and a ranked-choice tabulation is set for November 18.
JUNEAU, Alaska — Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign said Thursday that she will win Alaska’s U.S. Senate election against Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, pointing to a lead of 4,250 first-choice votes in the latest count. The Associated Press has not called the race, and the result remains unofficial.
According to results reported Wednesday, Peltola held 118,926 first-choice votes, or about 49 percent, against 114,676 votes, or 47.2 percent, for Sullivan, with about 245,470 ballots counted and roughly 84 to 86 percent of the expected vote in. Peltola campaign manager Cheryl Bruce said the latest ballot release showed there was “not a viable path to reelection for Senator Sullivan.”
Alaska uses ranked-choice voting. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, lower-ranked candidates are dropped and their ballots are transferred to each voter’s next choice. The state plans to run that tabulation on November 18 if no candidate tops 50 percent.
On Wednesday, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews denied the Peltola campaign’s request for a list of voters whose absentee ballots had been rejected. Matthews called the request “not reasonable” at the height of the count, writing that the Division of Elections was “currently busy processing ballots” and “simply lacks the capacity to generate the report.”
What happens next
The Division of Elections is expected to release another update on Friday, November 13. If neither candidate crosses 50 percent, the ranked-choice tabulation will run on November 18, and the state aims to certify the election by November 25.
The race is the last Senate contest in the country still uncalled, and its result will set the size of the Democratic majority. Democrats already hold a 55-44 edge in the Senate; a Peltola win would make it 56, while a Sullivan win would hold it at 55.
The contest has been the most litigated of the 2026 midterms. The Justice Department sued to block certification if Peltola won, citing voter confusion between Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and a same-name rival, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg. Peltola has denied any role in the dispute over the same-name candidate. President Donald Trump weighed in days after the election, declaring that Sullivan had won “BY A LOT” even though Peltola led by 637 votes at the time.
For now, the count continues. The campaign has not said whether it will appeal the judge’s ruling or seek the rejected-ballot records again after certification.
Reporting based on coverage by Brownstone Worldwide and US News Pulse.
