Working Class Weekly: Winning Back the Working Class in Alaska
Costs and corruption are hurting Alaska’s working class. Our paid program in Alaska is making sure Republicans own both.
Last week, we launched our paid midterm campaign in Pennsylvania, sharing how focus groups and conversations with working class voters there shaped our paid media strategy in the state. American Bridge is continuing that strategy, extending our paid midterm campaign to Alaska’s Senate race.
Alaska is one of the latest investments in our $50 million midterm ad campaign, which targets swing working class voters in nearly 20 key races to expand the battleground by putting traditionally safe Republican seats — including districts rated R+3 or higher — in play this November. Every ad in this campaign draws on the extensive voter research conducted through this Working Class Project, designed to win back working class voters in the battleground and beyond.
DEMOCRATS’ ALASKAN BID
Alaska’s Senate race is one of the most competitive in the country and a major potential pickup for Democrats. Incumbent Dan Sullivan has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporations in direct competition with the local fisheries industries that form the backbone of Alaska’s working class. And while Alaskans struggle to afford food, energy, healthcare, and other everyday necessities, Sullivan has only grown richer through his insider status in Washington.
Alaska has long been a Republican stronghold — Trump won by 13.1 points in 2024. But this cycle is shaping up much differently. Working class voters in Alaska are disproportionately impacted by Republicans’ harmful economic agenda. Higher fuel prices from Trump’s war in Iran, Medicaid cuts hitting the one-third of Alaska voters on Medicaid, and corporate trawlers gutting local fisheries are creating real kitchen-table pain — and making the conditions more ripe for a Democratic upset.
Democrat Mary Peltola is uniquely positioned to seize that opening. She’s already won and held Alaska’s at-large House seat — the only Democrat elected statewide since 2008. In 2024, during her re-election bid, she outperformed Vice President Harris by 11 points. Her electoral record in the state and name recognition as a proven fighter for Alaskans has given her real cross-aisle appeal. Her message also fits the moment: cost of living as her number one priority, a sharp critique of multinational trawlers destroying Alaska’s fisheries while Washington insiders profit, and a “Fish. Family. Freedom.” slogan that puts local Alaskan issues at the forefront of her campaign. That mix of working class economics and Alaska-first branding is optimized to appeal to Independents and disillusioned Republicans. Alaska’s top-four ranked-choice system only strengthens her prospects — with her cross-partisan appeal making her a likely second choice for plenty of soft partisans and Independents.
The economic climate coupled with Peltola’s track record and bipartisan appeal has put Alaska in play for Democrats — and we’re using our paid campaign to bolster those odds, making sure Republicans own the higher costs and corruption hurting working-class Alaskans.
THE WORKING CLASS PAYS THE PRICE
The combination of rising costs and corruption is everything voters currently despise about Congress — and it’s a formidable message for Democrats when the two are paired effectively.
Sullivan has taken more than $400,000 from large corporate trawling operations that compete directly with Alaska’s small, independent fisheries. He pocketed that money while gutting protections for local small boat fishermen. He also made $50,000 trading stock in a foreign salmon company — one that is in competition with the local fisheries his states’ economy depends on.
Our new ad weaves these threads together — working Alaskans’ economic anxieties, the struggles of local fisheries, and Sullivan’s self-dealing — into one clear message: Dan Sullivan gets rich off special interests that harm local fisheries, and Alaska’s working families pay the price. It’s simple, and it fuses costs and corruption in a way that lands.
A REAL SHOT
For years, Republicans have had electoral success in Alaska. But this cycle, Democrats have a real shot at winning Alaska’s open Senate seat. But it won’t be easy. We’re applying everything we’ve learned from our qualitative and quantitative research to turn corruption and high costs into a liability Dan Sullivan can’t escape at the ballot box — and to make this highly competitive race even more favorable for Democrats.