FILE PHOTO: Vice President JD Vance participates in the daily briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, September 3, 2026. (Official White House Photo by Emily J. Higgins.)
(The Center Square) - Vice President JD Vance called on Alaskans to vote for U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan in one of the closest races in the country, which could determine control of the upper chamber in Congress.
Sen. Sullivan is running against Democrat Mary Peltola in a hotly contested race that includes two other candidates. Dan J. Sullivan, a school teacher, and Gerald Hiekes are also in the race under Alaska’s four-candidate election rules.
Vance touted his relationship with Sen. Sullivan and said the Alaska senator is one of the most hardworking in the congressional chamber.
“He’s delivered for every Alaskan who wants the freedom to build a good life right here in the place that you call home,” Vance said. “That’s all you really want from a United States senator.”
Vance slammed Peltola, who previously served as a two-term congresswoman from Alaska. She lost a bid for reelection in 2024.
Vance said Peltola had “one of the worst attendance records in Congress.” Petola missed 235 of 1,370 roll-call votes from 2022 to 2024, according to GovTrack data.
“Her sole job was to support Alaskans in the House of Representatives,” Vance said. “Yet she couldn't be bothered to show up for one in five votes.”
The vice president also criticized Peltola’s voting record. He pointed to Peltola’s decision to not vote for or against the Alaska Right to Produce Act, a bill to roll back the Biden administration’s restrictions on oil and gas leases in Alaska.
Peltola, who co-sponsored the legislation with Republicans in Congress, said she took issue with a portion of the bill that would eliminate a special designation for the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area, a section of ocean where Alaskan tribes are given greater management authority.
“By nullifying this area, we are breaking our promise to tribes and directly harming fishing communities. Alaskans face many challenges and threats to our unique ways of life,” she said on the House floor. “We’re on the brink of being forced to import natural gas from a foreign country and our fishermen are in the midst of an economic free fall coupled with depleted fish stocks. Unfortunately, the way this bill was written pits energy development against fisheries, and for that reason I will be voting present today.”
Vance and Sullivan attacked Peltola’s decision not to vote for the legislation and framed it as a choice against Alaskan energy production interests, an issue the incumbent senator has focused greater attention on recently.
The Trump administration coordinated a deal with South Korea on the development of a $50 million liquefied natural gas pipeline in Alaska, a project Sullivan has touted.
“You’ve got a ton of countries all over the world that are desperate for Alaska’s natural gas,” Vance said. “You can have easy access to that fuel, you can have easy access to that energy, but you’ve got to help us build it.”
“If you’re not going to help us build it, then you’re going to have to pay a big fat tax for the energy that you’re bringing in from Alaska,” Vance said.
While she has not endorsed the Trump administration's plan, Peltola said she supports development of a liquiefied natural gas pipeline in Alaska.
"Alaskans know that we have the resources to lead the nation in oil and natural gas production, and it’s time we cut red tape to make it a reality," Peltola's website reads. "Mary will fight every day at the federal level for projects like the Alaska LNG Pipeline, to ensure that Alaska’s energy resources are used to lower costs for Alaskans."
Alongside campaigning with Sullivan, the vice president visited Alaska to announce an investment of a nearly $400 million power grid development project in the state.
“With this project, ladies and gentlemen, the Trump administration will help develop more than 200 miles of new transmission lines, lowering costs and strengthening grid reliability for 75% of the population of this state,” Vance said.
Sen. Sullivan touted his involvement in the energy investment projects. He said the investments will help lower everyday gas prices for Alaskans and contrasted the project to the policies of the Biden administration.
“The Iran conflict is temporary,” Sullivan said. “The true forever war is the national Democrats' war against Alaska energy and Alaska jobs.”
Sullivan said Republican policies in Congress will reinvigorate the Alaska energy industry and bring renewal to the state.
Vance also slammed Peltola for campaign finance spending. The National Republican Senatorial Committee filed a complaint in March alleging that Peltola use campaign funds on personal expenses.
From January 2025 through February 2026, a committee associated with Peltola ran more than $230,000 in charges, including on airline tickets and lodging outside of Alaska, according to the compalint. The complaint included $4,000 in charges for DoorDash and GrubHub services, including reoccurring subscription charges.
“She was using campaign money and taxpayer money to support a very lavish lifestyle,” Vance said. “She now stands before the people of Alaska and she demands that you continue to fund the next generation of Mary's gravy train.”
The Center Square reached out to Peltola’s campaign for comment on the accusations but a statement was not provided in time for publication.
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