Democrat Mary Peltola waves to passing motorists on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026 in Midtown Anchorage. (Photo by Loren Holmes/Alaska Beacon)
This article is developing and will be updated.
Alaska is on course to keep its Republican incumbent Senator in a closely watched race that will help determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the U.S. Senate.
With 279 of 401 precincts reporting results Tuesday night, Sen. Dan Sullivan had 48.6% of voters’ first-choice votes. Democratic challenger Mary Peltola had 47.4% of the vote.
The candidates were separated by just 2,470 votes out of 201,705 cast.
Independent challenger Dan J. Sullivan had 1.7%, and Republican challenger Gerald Heikes had 2.1%. 
Sullivan’s narrow lead follows a series of Democratic victories in U.S. Senate races across the country Tuesday night. If Peltola prevails, she is expected to be the 55th or 56th Democratic senator in a large Democratic majority. If Sullivan wins, he would be a member of a shrunken Senate Republican caucus that will now be in the minority.
Some Republican officials said before the first results that they would challenge the legality of a Peltola victory, citing New York Times reporting that found Democratic campaigners recruited independent candidate Dan J. Sullivan in an attempt to siphon votes from the incumbent Dan S. Sullivan.
But late Tuesday, President Donald Trump — who ordered civil challenges against Peltola — told the Times he would not challenge the results of the election.
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Courtesy of Alaska Beacon
