Peltola Claims Victory in Alaska as Sullivan Waits on the Final Count and No Network Has Called the Race

Democrat Mary Peltola declared victory on Saturday in Alaska's U.S. Senate race, saying her lead over Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan can no longer be overcome. The race, however, has not been called, and Sullivan's campaign has not conceded ^[1][4].

Peltola, who is Yup'ik and served in the U.S. House before losing her seat in 2024, claimed the win after a fresh batch of ballots widened her margin, The Washington Times reported ^[1][4]. Her campaign put her lead at 10,412 votes as of Saturday and said victory was near, Native News Online reported ^[4]. The campaign argued on Friday that Sullivan no longer has a mathematical path to winning ^[1][4].

NBC News' Decision Desk now rates Peltola as likely to win, though the network has stopped short of a formal projection while counting continues ^[2]. The Associated Press had not called the race as of Saturday ^[1].

Why the Count Has Taken So Long

Alaska's counts routinely stretch for weeks. The state keeps accepting properly mailed ballots, including those from remote villages and voters overseas, for days after Election Day, and its vast distances slow the process further ^[3].

Alaska also uses ranked-choice voting in general elections. If no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes, the last-place finishers are eliminated and their voters' later choices are counted. NBC News reported that Peltola appears on track to win even if that tabulation is needed ^[3]. State officials have set Nov. 25 as their target date for certifying the result, Newsweek reported ^[5].

Sullivan's Side

Sullivan, a two-term Republican who has represented Alaska in the Senate since 2015, has not given up. His campaign has declined to concede, and it has signaled it wants every remaining ballot counted and reviewed before anyone declares the contest over ^[1][6]. Earlier this month, it asked to join a state court case in which the Peltola campaign is seeking records on rejected absentee ballots, arguing that it shares an interest in the accurate and lawful tabulation and certification of every vote, the Anchorage Daily News reported ^[6]. In its filing, the Sullivan campaign suggested the Peltola campaign wants to identify rejected absentee ballots it believes were cast by Democratic voters ^[6].

The race has also been shadowed by the presence of a second candidate on the ballot named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. The Justice Department sued to keep the state from certifying the result if Sen. Sullivan lost narrowly, arguing the duplicate name could have confused voters ^[5][6]. A federal judge dismissed that case on Nov. 1, and the administration has appealed, Newsweek reported ^[5]. With Peltola's lead now in five figures, that argument will be much harder to make.

What It Means

If the lead holds, Peltola would add one more seat to the Senate majority Democrats won in this month's midterms, a hard loss for Republicans in a state President Trump carried in 2024 ^[2].

Related Alaska Keeps Ranked-Choice Voting as a Repeal Fails for the Second Time in Two Years

For conservatives, the right response is the same one we would ask of the other side: count every lawful ballot, let the courts settle any honest dispute, and accept the certified result. Sullivan has every right to wait for the final numbers and to make sure the count is clean. Candidates of both parties have done the same in close races, and patience at this stage is not obstruction; it is how the system is supposed to work. Alaskans deserve confidence that the process was fair, and an orderly finish is the best way to give it to them.

Republicans also have work to do. A state that has backed GOP presidential candidates for decades is poised to send a Democrat to the Senate, and the party will need to look hard at why its message did not carry in the Last Frontier this year.

What Comes Next

Election officials will keep reporting the remaining ballots in the coming days, and the official tabulation and certification will follow ahead of the Nov. 25 target ^[5]. We will update this story when the race is called or when Sullivan speaks to the outcome.