Summary
First-term GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan is looking to improve upon his 2-point victory in 2014, and Trump at the top of the ticket should help.
We think the Republican candidate will likely win the U.S. Senate race in Alaska.
Politico 11/19/19
Dr. Al Gross, who also is a commercial fisherman, is gunning for Republican Senator Dan Sullivan’s seat. With Gross recently out-fundraising his opponent, the state’s political makeup and the absence of a Democratic candidate, the independent has caught the eye of the Democratic Party. He has snagged endorsements from the state and the national party. Though an independent, Dr. Gross is running in the Alaska Democratic primary and would appear on the general election ballot as a Democrat. Although his past two fundraising quarters have eclipsed Sullivan’s, his total cash on hand is less than half than Sullivan’s $4.5 million.
Newsweek by Ramsey Touchberry on 5/22/20
OnAir Post: Alaska – US Senate 2020 Election
News
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan expressed confidence in his reelection chances against independent challenger Al Gross Tuesday as Alaska’s hard-fought Senate race was too early to call, with thousands of ballots yet to be counted.
“We are on a clear path for a resounding victory for our state and our country because of that positive future that we have laid out,” Sullivan told supporters in Anchorage late Tuesday. “We are going to win. We are going to win big because our best days are ahead of us.”
Alaska Public Media – October 23, 2020 (01:34:29)
A fondness for minor-party candidates injects some uncertainty, making the state an unlikely late-stage battleground.
The reliably Republican state of Alaska has soured on President Trump’s job performance, but Republicans still lead the state’s races for president, Senate and U.S. House, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released Friday.
Over all, Mr. Trump leads Joe Biden, 45 percent to 39 percent, with 8 percent supporting the Libertarian candidate, Jo Jorgensen. Similarly, Dan Sullivan, the incumbent Republican senator, leads the Democratic nominee, Al Gross, by 45 to 37, with 10 percent backing the Alaska Independence candidate, John Howe.
Democratic and Republican outside groups are flooding the state with new spending in the final four weeks of the campaign between GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic-backed independent Al Gross.
In their quest for the Senate majority, Democrats are pushing the battleground map as far north as it will go.
New money from outside groups and small dollar donors are flooding into Alaska, where independent Al Gross, who is backed by state and national Democrats, is aiming to unseat first-term GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan. The race has been on the edges of the Senate map for months, potentially competitive but receiving far less attention than some more expensive and geographically closer contests.
But now a new influx of outside spending and grassroots dollars into Gross’ campaign have given Democrats a major financial edge in the state in the final four weeks. A new super PAC formed Monday is dropping $4 million into the race, the largest outside investment so far and a signal of optimism among party leaders. And Gross announced that his campaign raised $9 million over the past three months, a staggering sum that would have been enough to fund an entire campaign.
America’s most consequential congressional race for the outcome of the presidency in 2020 is being waged about 4,000 miles from the Washington D.C. beltway in the nation’s most unforgiving and frigid terrain. The heated battle between the Republican Dean of the House Don Young, who has represented Alaska’s lone At-Large District since 1973, and Democrat-nominated Independent Alyse Galvin, may provide the decisive vote should both Donald Trump and Joe Biden fail to secure a majority of the Electoral College.
The poll surveyed 638 Alaska voters at the end of August on a series of questions related to the Senate race. Of those surveyed, 49% voted for President Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential election, 35% voted for Hillary Clinton, and 16% voted for someone else or did not vote. Thirty-four percent of respondents were Republican, 23% were Democrat, and 43% identified as independent.
Seventy-five percent of Trump voters and 5% of Clinton voters said they planned to vote for Sullivan. That dynamic flipped for Gross who took in 10% of Trump voters and 89% of Clinton voters. Of those who voted for someone else or did not vote, 45% plan to vote for Gross and 26% plan to vote for Sullivan.
Two independent candidates could give Democrats a fighting chance in Alaska.
For evidence that Democrats have expanded their map of competitive US Senate and House races, look no further than Alaska.
Alaska voted for President Donald Trump by close to 15 percentage points in 2016, but it is nothing if not fiercely independent — featuring the highest number of independent voters of any state. National Democrats would like to capitalize on that, hoping to unseat Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan with Dr. Al Gross, an independent candidate running for the Democratic nomination.
Open Secrets, – August 13, 2020
Gross, the son of Alaska’s former attorney general, is challenging incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) this cycle. Like Galvin, Gross will be running for the Democratic nomination later in August in order to appear on the ballot. He has made public healthcare choice a major pillar of his campaign.
Sullivan is serving his first term as Alaska’s junior senator after defeating Begich in 2014 to help Republicans retake control of the Senate. He has highlighted his work in national security and women’s issues, such as sexual assault and domestic violence.
Unbiased Election Predictions – April 25, 2020 (08:52)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey7TCSzD8VI
Dan Sullivan
Current Position: Candidate US Senator since 2020
Affiliation: Republican
Candidate: 2020 US Senator
Recognized as one of the Senate’s most effective lawmakers, Senator Sullivan has focused on rebuilding and modernizing our country’s military, promoting responsible resource development, opening international and domestic markets to Alaska fishermen, cleaning up our oceans, spurring economic development, expanding benefits for our veterans and helping society’s most vulnerable, especially survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and those recovering from addiction.
Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Senator Sullivan served as Alaska’s Attorney General and Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
For more information, see this Dan Sullivan post.
Al Gross
Current Position: Doctor and commercial fisherman
Affiliation: Democrat
Candidate: 2020 US Senator
We can change Washington, and it starts by changing the people we send there. I’m not a politician. I’m a doctor, a commercial fisherman, a father of four, and a lifelong Alaskan. I don’t owe the outside special interests anything. For me, it’s always about Alaska and doing what’s right for working families.
In 2013 Dr. Al and Dr. Monica Gross left their medical practices and went back to school. They received master’s degrees in public health at UCLA and studied solutions that would make health care better and at a lower cost. After receiving his degree Al turned his focus to advocating for these solutions, including creating a public healthcare option that will give Alaskans the choice to buy less expensive insurance through the healthcare exchange. As a United States Senator, he’ll get it done.
For more information, see Al Gross’s post.
Issues
Governance
Dan Sullivan
Dan Sullivan was ranked one of the top ten most effective Senators in Washington D.C. by the nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking. As a Colonel in the Marine Corps and the only member of Congress still serving in the military, he knows what it means to be a true leader. He has worked tirelessly with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, as well as with the Trump administration, to secure big wins for Alaska.
Dan is Getting It Done in Washington:
- Fighting the COVID-19 pandemic on multiple fronts and making sure Alaska receives its fair share of federal resources to protect the well-being of Alaskans and economically recover from this pandemic
- Leading the fight to unleash Alaska’s energy potential by opening ANWR and reopening the NPR-A for development
- Rebuilding our nation’s military, especially in Alaska, after the 25% cuts by the Obama Administration which gutted the readiness of our forces
- Securing $300 million to fund new water and sewer programs, as well as funding for new ports, harbors and icebreakers to defend America’s interests in the Arctic
- Confirming an unprecedented 192 federal judges – including two Supreme Court justices – who will defend the Constitution and our written rule of law
- Protecting our Second Amendment right to bear arms
- Fighting back against socialist policies like the Green New Deal, which will destroy Alaska’s economy, and opening up access to our lands
- Passing historic legislation to clean up our oceans
- Empowering survivors of domestic violence and securing $50 million for public safety in rural Alaska
- Fighting for Alaska Native communities, subsistence whalers, and the rights of ivory craftsmen
- Improving medical care for veterans and their families by increasing the number of doctors, staff and facilities in Alaska’s VA hospitals
- Holding foreign governments, like China, accountable when they don’t play by the rules
See post for more info.
Al Gross
N/A
Democracy
Dan Sullivan
N/A
Al Gross
This isn’t a complicated subject: Foreign governments should not be allowed to tamper with our elections. But for some reason, our current Senator opposes even formally debating legislation to prohibit this. Not me.
When I go to the Senate, I will support pending legislation to require campaigns to alert the FBI and Federal Election Commission about foreign offers of assistance – instead of accepting them; to provide more election security funding; and to ban voting machines from being connected to the internet where foreign governments are just waiting to hack them. Alaska needs a Senator who will vote to safeguard America’s democracy before the election.
Outside special interests are running the country these days, and that’s just wrong. That’s why I refuse to accept corporate PAC money in this campaign.
We need to restore ownership of our democracy to the people – not big campaign donors. I support a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United and will support limiting the amount of money that can be spent to support politicians and their campaigns.
I will also support legislation to keep foreign money out of our elections, to further limit so-called Super PACs, and to end “dark money” in campaigns by requiring disclosure of all contributors and to prohibit corporate PAC contributions in elections.
Economy
Dan Sullivan
Fighting for a Future of Economic Growth
The COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly and dramatically undermined the economic vitality of our state with thousands of Alaskans losing their jobs in critical sectors of our economy like resource development, tourism, hospitality, retail, and fishing.
Dan believes we can and will bounce back with the help of pro-economic, resource development, and jobs growth policies that he has fought for throughout his entire career. He also knows from first-hand experience that the anti-Alaska agenda of National Democrats – should they regain majority control of the U.S. Senate – will kill jobs and economic growth, while hurting Alaskan families for years to come.
Dan continues to work hard to shape federal policies to provide relief to Alaska’s families, workers, and small businesses in every sector of our economy.
Dan is Revitalizing Alaska’s Economy:
- Providing relief to Alaska families, small business and their employees through critical provisions within the CARES Act.
- Securing roughly $1.4 billion in funding for new military construction across the state
- Fighting to include multiple Alaska-first provisions in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that ensure our fisheries are a principal negotiating priority in future trade agreements
- Slashing red tape and speeding up the permitting process for new infrastructure development to create new jobs
- Leading the energy renaissance by reopening the NPR-A and opening ANWR for responsible resource development
- Repealing negative aspects of Obamacare that placed a lofty financial burden on thousands of Alaskans
- Acquiring authorization for the construction of new harbors and ports across the state
- Defending against national policies that would increase taxes on hardworking Alaskans
See post for more info.
Al Gross
I have started and owned multiple small businesses over the years, including owning fishing boats and medical practices. I understand the stresses on small business owners to be good employers while providing excellent customer service and to still maintain a profitable bottom line. My work and business experience will bring clear-headed decision making to Washington.
That’s why I will fight for working Alaskans and Alaskan small business owners. I know first-hand how hard most people labor to earn the money that puts food on their family’s table – I’ve worked as a commercial fisherman and know about hard work. Everyone deserves to be paid what their labor is worth. We need to promote jobs with a livable wage, quality benefits, and safe working conditions. Labor unions facilitate all three of those goals. So when my staff approached me about unionizing my campaign, I encouraged them to do so. In fact, I am also a dues paying member of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Local 1959 (classified as an “owner/operator”).
I will always be a fierce advocate for organized labor and working families. Dan Sullivan has repeatedly voted for appointees to the National Labor Relations Board that are either unqualified or outright hostile to worker protections. I will do exactly the opposite. I will also oppose any legislation that works to weaken unions and working families and will begin working immediately to shore up our struggling pension system and pass reforms to ensure that this situation never happens again.
The fishing industry isn’t just important to Alaska – it’s personally important to me. I started fishing these waters commercially at the age of 14, and my kids have all commercially fished to help pay for their education. My mother, Shari, was the founding Director of the United Fishermen of Alaska. I know how important fishing and protecting our oceans and waterways are for our economy, for our working people, and our way of life. That’s why you know you can count on me to fight for our seafood industry. As your Senator, I will work to protect local Alaska fisheries and help fishermen financially with loans, refinancing and eligibility for unemployment insurance and for federal fisheries disaster assistance.
I also am calling for an “Oceans Initiative,” combining economic and national security components to include a wide range of needed activities. I’ll fight to keep Alaska’s waters clean, and productive. I will work for robust federal funding to conduct marine research on fish populations, overfishing, species preservation, climate change, fisheries, and ecosystem sustainability, and to advance scientific research on ocean issues. I will oppose any cuts that threaten ocean science investment.
Alaska faces a commercial threat from Russian attempts to expand their fishing zones in the Bering Sea. Russian over-crabbing is particularly egregious: Data suggest that illegal crabbing from Russian boats is greater than the entire legal trade in the United States. We need a Senator who will go to Washington to represent Alaska’s interests and push back on the twin challenges of Russian aggression and climate change – instead of caving to the interests of Vladimir Putin and denying scientific reality.
