Peltola raises $1.5M in first 24 hours of Alaska Senate bid

Former Rep. Mary Peltola raked in $1.5 million in the first 24 hours of her bid to unseat GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska, a sizable haul to kick off what will likely be a costly battle for Democrats to flip a Senate seat squarely in Trump terrain.

Peltola’s day-one haul was fueled by small-dollar donors from across Alaska, including fisherman, silversmiths and train conductors, according to information her campaign shared first with POLITICO. Ninety-six percent of those contributions were $100 or less.

“In just 24 hours, Alaskans made it clear that we’re ready to put Alaska first,” Peltola said in a statement. “I’m grateful and honored for this incredible support from people who are ready to take on the special interests and DC people and focus on what matters: fish, family, and freedom.”

Peltola raised more in one day than the roughly $1.2 million that Sullivan brought in over the third quarter of last year, according to federal campaign finance filings. Sullivan had yet to post his fourth-quarter fundraising report as of Tuesday night, but the Republican was sitting on nearly $4.8 million in cash on hand to start the last three months of the year.

Her total was likely padded by messages from prominent Democrats including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who blasted out emails Monday asking their supporters to split donations between their political arms and Peltola.

Her campaign said it also recruited more than 500 volunteers in its first day.

The former congresswoman’s entrance into the race is a recruiting coup for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — the latest addition to the roster of former lawmakers the New York Democrat is relying on to help the party net four seats to retake control of the Senate. And it gives Democrats another offensive target on a map they’ve been pushing to expand after sweeping victories in last year’s off-cycle elections.

Peltola has twice won statewide elections in Alaska, snagging her at-large House seat in a special election in September 2022 to replace the late Rep. Don Young and going on to win a full term that November. She lost her seat in 2024 by 2.4 points, but outperformed Harris as President Donald Trump swept the state by 13.

She faces an uphill climb against Sullivan, who ousted Democratic incumbent Mark Begich in 2014 to win his seat and has kept it red since. Cook Political Report moved the Alaska Senate race from “solid” Republican to “lean” Republican after her launch Monday. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican who has backed Peltola in the past, endorsed Sullivan on Monday.