Former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola again claimed victory in her Alaska Senate race against Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan after the latest ballot count increased her lead, the Washington Examiner reported in a post on X.
The race had not been called as of Saturday morning, with Peltola at 49.8% of the vote to Sullivan’s 46.1%, a gap of about 10,400 votes, according to the Washington Examiner.
Former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola again claimed victory in her Alaska Senate race against Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), after the latest ballot dump increased her lead over the incumbent. https://t.co/TSnpytzGAZ
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) November 14, 2026
Friday’s count widened the gap
The Alaska Division of Elections counted more than 20,000 ballots Friday, bringing the total tallied to over 279,000, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Peltola’s lead grew to 10,412 votes, up from 5,800 after Thursday’s update, and she won about 59% of the newly counted Senate votes, according to Alaska News.
Peltola has 138,240 first-choice votes, or 49.84%, while Sullivan has 127,828, or 46.09%, Newsweek reported, citing the Division of Elections. Republican Gerald Heikes had 5,885 votes and independent Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. had 4,560, according to the Washington Examiner.
“Alaskans have spoken, and it is clear that in the coming days Mary Peltola will be officially elected as their next United States Senator,” Peltola campaign manager Cheryl Bruce said in a prepared statement, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
The 50% line and ranked-choice rounds
Peltola was 445 votes short of a majority of first-choice votes counted so far, Alaska News reported. Under state law, a candidate with more than half of the first-round votes when counting ends wins without ranked-choice rounds, according to the outlet.
About 10,500 ballots the division had accepted by Friday afternoon were not yet in the results, including about 2,600 questioned ballots from Anchorage, Eagle River and Chugiak, Alaska News reported. Ballots from overseas can still arrive through Nov. 18, according to the outlet.
If no candidate reaches a majority, the Division of Elections will eliminate the last-place candidate and reallocate those ballots to voters’ next choices in a tabulation set for Nov. 18, Alaska Public Media reported. Preliminary second-choice data indicate Peltola is likely to win even if the race goes to tabulation, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Final state certification is slated for Nov. 25, according to Alaska Public Media.
Last uncalled Senate race
The Associated Press estimates 96% of Alaska ballots have been counted, and the contest is now the only unresolved U.S. Senate race, Alaska Public Media reported. A Peltola win would give Democrats a 56-member majority, while a Sullivan hold would keep the Democratic caucus at 55, according to the outlet.
The race was roiled late by a New York Times report alleging that Peltola’s team was involved in recruiting Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. to siphon votes from the incumbent, Alaska Public Media reported. Peltola denied knowing about the recruitment effort, which remains the subject of state and federal investigations, according to the outlet. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. has denied that his candidacy was illegitimate, Newsweek reported.
The Justice Department is appealing a federal judge’s dismissal of its lawsuit seeking to block certification if Sen. Sullivan lost, but it did not seek an expedited schedule, Alaska Public Media reported.
Elsewhere on the ballot, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins won the governor’s race, according to an Associated Press race call reported by Alaska Public Media, and voters rejected Ballot Measure 2, which would have repealed ranked-choice voting, Newsweek reported.
Sources
- Washington Examiner on X
- Washington Examiner: Peltola again claims victory in Alaska Senate race as vote count drags on
- Anchorage Daily News: Peltola grows lead in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race
- Alaska Public Media: Peltola leads in U.S. Senate race, nearing 50% mark
- Alaska News: Peltola nears 50% in new Nov. 13 results
- Newsweek: Two Dan Sullivans Couldn’t Sour Alaska on Ranked-Choice Voting
Sources cited
- https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4803912/peltola-again-claim-victory-alaska-senate-race/
- https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/11/13/peltola-grows-lead-in-alaskas-us-senate-race-after-thousands-more-ballots-are-counted/
- https://alaskapublic.org/news/politics/elections/2026-11-13/peltola-leads-in-u-s-senate-race-nearing-50-mark-with-almost-all-ballots-counted
- https://alaskanews.com/c/alaska-news/peltola-nears-50-and-begichs-lead-shrinks-in-new-nov-13-results
- https://www.newsweek.com/two-dan-sullivans-sour-alaska-ranked-choice-voting-12715239
Sources
- Original post: Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) on X, Nov 14, 2026
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