Dan Sullivan

Alaska has never been a state that fits neatly into political boxes. We hunt, we fish, we build lives in conditions that demand pragmatism over ideology. We respect results. We respect backbone. And that is exactly why I — a man who ran against Dan Sullivan as an independent in 2020 — am writing this endorsement of him today.

Alaska needs a Dan Sullivan in the United States Senate. And before you ask, yes, I’m aware there are two of them on the ballot.

Let me address that directly, because Alaskans deserve honesty. A political unknown from Petersburg filed for the U.S. Senate race, sharing the exact same name as our sitting junior senator. The incumbent’s campaign calls it a dirty trick. The Petersburg Sullivan insists he’s serious. What I will say is this: Even if you must squint at the middle initial to figure out which Dan Sullivan you’re voting for, either one still beats the alternative.

Why do I say that? Because the alternative is Mary Peltola.

I respect Mary Peltola. She is nice and kind, and her story as the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress is genuinely historic. But a Senate race is not a ceremonial vote. It is a decision about who will fight best for Alaska’s interests in the most powerful deliberative body on Earth and who can keep the seat to consolidate power. And on that question, Peltola’s record raises serious concerns.

She held a powerful seat — Alaska’s sole House seat — and lost it to a guy who worked for a car company in Michigan and who grew up in Florida. Her 2024 defeat came by slightly more than two percentage points, even as she demonstrated genuine electoral strength relative to her party’s national brand. A close loss, yes — but an incumbent loss. It seemed that Mary spent more time getting photo ops at the Department of the Interior with Secretary Deb Haaland than she spent replying to texts and emails sent by constituents. Alaska sent her to Washington to deliver, and Washington delivered her back to us. That is not a record that inspires confidence heading into a Senate race where Alaska’s leverage depends entirely on the credibility and clout of whoever holds the seat and who can keep it. Alaska needs a strong voice who can gather power.

The United States Senate is not a place where good intentions survive without power. You need relationships. You need the kind of earned respect that takes years to build. Sen. Dan Sullivan — the one who’s been there for 12 years — has all of that. He has fought on the Armed Services Committee for our military installations, our Arctic infrastructure, our national defense priorities. He has protected Alaska’s fishing communities. He has been a consistent, effective voice for a state that official Washington too easily ignores.

The Republican Party, despite all its national turbulence, clearly speaks more to Alaska’s core identity: resource development, personal liberty, resistance to federal overreach on our lands and our waters. Alaska does not thrive when Democratic bureaucrats in Washington make decisions for us from 3,000 miles away. The incumbent Sullivan on the ballot has spent a decade pushing back against exactly that and deserves enormous credit.

And if Petersburg’s Dan Sullivan, whom I’ve met and respect and whose family I know, somehow pulls off one of the great political upsets in recent Alaska history? Well — he’s still a committed Republican, and he has demonstrated great leadership skills as a teacher and as a community leader. He’s just as committed to putting Alaska first, and I trust him to do so. So I’m voting for him, I think, if I get the middle initial right, but either way, it’s the right call.

First and foremost, though, if Republicans refuse to rank all the Republicans, the Democrat will win nearly every time. Ranked choice was a brilliant political trick by the minority party and should be repealed to restore fair elections.

The diagnosis here is clear: Alaska cannot afford to send someone to Washington whose voice gets swallowed by the chamber the moment they arrive — someone who has already demonstrated she cannot hold a powerful seat when it counts.

The prescription? Vote Sullivan. Check the middle initial if you really must. But vote for both Sullivans, for all of Alaska.

Dr. Al Gross is a surgeon and former independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska.

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Al Gross was an independent US Senate candidate in 2020. His father, Av Gross, was Gov. Jay Hammond’s attorney general.