Former U.S. Representative Mary Peltola (D-AK), who announced in January that she’s running for U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, has been campaigning against “DC people” and “their millionaire and billionaire donors.”
Peltola, who became the first Alaska Native person elected to Congress in 2022, said this week: “DC people do not care that we’re paying $17 for a gallon of milk in rural Alaska. They don’t even believe us. The Lower 48 is feeling what Alaskans have dealt with far too long. But politicians and their corporate donors care more about their stock portfolios than your wallet.”
DC people do not care that we’re paying $17 for a gallon of milk in rural Alaska. They don’t even believe us.
The Lower 48 is feeling what Alaskans have dealt with far too long. But politicians and their corporate donors care more about their stock portfolios than your wallet.
— Mary Peltola (@MaryPeltola) February 23, 2026
Peltola raised $1.5 million in the first 24 hours after announcing her Senate bid. Her campaign said 96 percent of those contributions were $100 or less. (Email blasts from star Democrats including former Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) encouraging their supporters to donate presumably helped the fundraising efforts.)
Note: The Trump-endorsed Sullivan, who was born and raised in Ohio, has raised more than $7 million this election cycle, and has received an endorsement from fellow Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who endorsed Peltola to represent Alaska in both her U.S. House bids. (Peltola won in 2022 and lost narrowly in 2024 to Republican Nick Begich.)
Murkowski said she felt she was in a “difficult spot” when it came to giving her endorsement, but she praised Sullivan and suggested that she ultimately wanted to keep a Republican majority in the Senate.
Last year, after voting against a resolution to terminate the national energy emergency declared by President Trump on January 20, 2025, Murkowski declared an “energy emergency” in Alaska, which she said has made everyday items including milk unaffordable.
Murkowski said on the Senate floor: “So, it’s not unusual to go into a village store and, if you can actually find a gallon of milk, see that it costs $18 a gallon. I do my comparison shopping by checking the prices of a box of Tide. People need to be able to wash their clothing for sanitary purposes. In almost every village that I’m going to, you’re looking at prices over $50 a box. $50 for a box of Tide laundry detergent. And it’s not because Tide is any more expensive than anything else, it’s just the reality of what we’re paying there. So, I think we’ve got an energy emergency when it comes to affordability.”