Alaska Senate Race Turns on the 'Lower 48' Insult

In Alaska politics, few accusations sting like being tied to the "Lower 48" — shorthand for the contiguous United States and the powerful outside interests that many Alaskans suspect are pulling strings in their state. That charge has become a defining feature of this year's U.S. Senate race, one of a handful expected to decide which party controls the chamber after the November elections.

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan has made the label a central line of attack against Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman. His campaign groups her with "Lower 48 liberals" who have opposed expanded oil and gas drilling in a state long dependent on that industry.

Peltola, an Alaska Native, has pushed back by pointing to her record of defying her own party. She says she "took on" then-President Joe Biden to help secure approval in 2023 of the Willow oil project, a major development that environmentalists strongly opposed. She has also said she will take on anyone, including Democrats, who does not understand what Alaska needs.

The dispute reflects a broader mystique about a state less than 70 years old, often called "The Last Frontier." Alaska's isolation — many communities can be reached only by air or water — has bred a culture of self-reliance, with residents hunting and fishing to fill their freezers and taking pride in their independence.

Both major campaigns and outside groups have leaned into that sentiment, presenting their candidates as authentic Alaskan voices. Republican Andrew Halcro, a political podcast host and former state lawmaker, said the persona of a tough, independent Alaska is one residents embrace.

Alaska's relationship with Washington has long been complicated. The federal government owns about 60 percent of the state's land, and tensions have run especially high under Democratic administrations that restricted logging, mining and oil and gas development on environmental grounds. The Obama and Biden administrations banned leasing on roughly half the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, home to caribou, polar bears and millions of migratory birds. President Donald Trump's administration has rolled back those restrictions and is backing lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Disputes over road building and logging in the Tongass National Forest date back to the Clinton administration, and Alaska lawmakers have long argued the state was promised a larger share of royalty revenue at statehood.

Oil production remains far below its late-1980s peak, though political leaders point to signs of a turnaround, including strong interest from major companies in a lease sale earlier this year. Communities have also been squeezed by fuel price spikes linked to the Iran war, a particular burden for remote areas that must fly in or barge fuel before rivers freeze.

For Darryl Hugo, who lives in the small North Slope community of Anaktuvuk Pass, oil development is the top issue. He backs Sullivan, noting that oil revenue largely funds his town's health clinic, school, police and fire services and water system. "My region's economy depends on oil," he said.

Robert Sewell, an independent from the Juneau area, sees the "Lower 48" taunts and Peltola's efforts to distance herself from national Democrats as a contest over who can claim to be the real voice of Alaska. He compared it to a schoolyard jeer.

Peltola declined to endorse Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris during her unsuccessful 2024 congressional reelection bid and said she would not vote for Trump. This year, before Alaska's August primary, Harris sent a fundraising appeal supporting Peltola. Her campaign responded that she "isn't seeking endorsements from anyone from the Lower 48." In videos highlighting her Willow backing, Peltola said she would work with Trump, who has carried Alaska in each of his three runs, to advance more oil and gas projects. "I took on Joe Biden to secure the largest development project in decades," she said in one social media video. "And I'll work with Donald Trump on more."

Sewell, a Peltola supporter, said he does not believe she likes Trump or his agenda on other issues. Peltola, who is Yup'ik, is among the roughly 43 percent of Alaskans born in the state. She grew up fishing on the Kuskokwim River, and her campaign slogan, "Fish, Family, Freedom," is meant to appeal to shared Alaskan values.

Sullivan, originally from Ohio, arrived in Alaska in the late 1990s in his early 30s. A retired Marine, he served as Alaska attorney general and natural resources commissioner and as an assistant secretary of state under President George W. Bush. His spokesperson, Nate Adams, said that for the senator, being an Alaskan means loving the state, fighting for fellow residents and ensuring that Alaskans, not Lower 48 liberals, decide their future.

The SLF PAC, which supports a Republican Senate majority, has echoed that theme. One ad says of Peltola, "They dress her up, throw her out on a stream somewhere, make her look like an Alaskan." Another says she "sounds like Alaska, but toes a different line in Washington, D.C." Peltola's campaign said Alaskans "won't be fooled by mudslinging ads" and sought to link Sullivan to Lower 48 special interest donors.

Halcro said voters have been flooded with such messaging, but he is unsure the argument over which candidate is less aligned with the Lower 48 is what they want to hear this year. "It's all of this stuff just to make us angry at a time where we really genuinely, genuinely just need stability," he said. "We just need to elect somebody who's not going to break anything."