Peltola expands lead in updated vote count as Trump, Sullivan seek to cast doubt on results

Democratic challenger ahead of Republican U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan 48.47% to 47.33%, up from 0.3% lead as of last Wednesday; Dan J. Sullivan at 1.66%

Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola, left, speaks at an election night event Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Anchorage. At right, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks at an election night event Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Anchorage. (AP Photos by Lindsey Wasson and Mark Thiessen)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

This is a developing story.

Democratic challenger Mary Peltola increased her lead to 1.14% over Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race, up from the 0.3% margin in results published as of last Wednesday, according to new tallies by the Alaska Division of Elections on Monday.

Peltola has 48.47% of the ballots counted so far, Sullivan has 47.33%, Republican challenger Gerald Heikes 2.22% and undeclared Petersburg resident Dan J. Sullivan 1.66%. Dan S. Sullivan and President Donald Trump are questioning the legitimacy of the results, based on accusations the Petersburg Sullivan was recruited by the Peltola campaign to confuse voters.

Monday’s count is for 220,859 ballots representing 36.48% of registered voters. The previous count was for 215,906 ballots representing 35.66% of voters. The Associated Press on Monday estimated 76% of all ballots cast have been tallied so far.

A more significant update with tens of thousands of uncounted votes — likely most of those remaining to be counted — is expected during the next day or two from the Division of Elections. That could essentially reveal the likely winner of the Senate and other still-undeclared races including the one for governor, although the final ranked choice tally isn’t scheduled until Nov. 18.

The remaining ballots are largely from remote areas and expected to be favorable to Peltola. If she is short of an outright majority of first-choice votes on Nov. 18, analyses of ballots cast so far indicate she will get more second-choice votes from Dan J. Sullivan backers — which will be tallied first — and the incumbent will get more second-choice votes from Heikes supporters.

The closeness of the race and Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy have triggered lawsuits and criminal investigations at the federal and state level. The Alaska Supreme Court has already rejected a state challenge to Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy and legal experts say a Trump-ordered lawsuit seeking to halt certification of the race if Peltola wins by fewer votes than the Petersburg resident gets is unlikely to succeed.

In the open governor’s race, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins has 49.42% of votes counted as of Monday, followed by Republicans Bernadette Wilson at 28.82%, Dave Bronson at 14.06% and Treg Taylor at 7.41%. Although the race has not been officially declared, Bronson and some other Republican state political leaders have acknowledged Kreiss-Tomkins as the likely winner.

In the U.S. House race, incumbent Republican Nick Begich III is close to an outright majority with 49.11%, followed by independent Bill Hill at 40.73%, Democratic federal prison inmate Eric Hafner at 7.32% and Libertarian Jim McDermott at 2.69%.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.