As national Democrats seek to win control of the U.S. Senate, they’ve named Alaska one of their top targets. They’ve already donated millions of dollars to boost the candidacy of Democratic candidate Mary Peltola, who served in the U.S. House 2022-2024.
Meanwhile, Republicans are doing the same with incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan. Both will be competing against 14 other candidates in the Aug. 18 primary election.
In that election, each voter picks one candidate and the top four vote-getters advance to the Nov. 3 general election. In that election, voters will sort the candidates in order of preference using ranked-choice voting to select the eventual winner.
June 1 was the deadline to file as a candidate for the U.S. Senate race, and the field includes seven Republicans, three Democrats, three independents, a Green Party member and a Libertarian candidate.
In addition to the incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, one of the challengers is also named Dan Sullivan, and he’s also running as a Republican, albeit from Petersburg instead of Anchorage.
Among the other candidates are frequent participants in past Alaska elections — Republican Gerald Heikes, Republican Dustin Darden and Libertarian Scott Kohlhaas.
Carol Hafner, running as a Democrat, is the mother of Eric Hafner — currently serving a felony sentence in a New York prison — who finished in the final four for Alaska’s 2024 U.S. House race and is running in this year’s House contest, too. Carol Hafner lists a South Dakota mailing address for her Alaska candidacy.
The deadline for any candidate to withdraw from the primary election is June 27.
The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.
