Alaska Senate candidates clash over the Iran war, high prices and their times in office

Key Points:

• Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan and Democratic challenger Mary Peltola debated key issues including the war with Iran, economic concerns, and controversies from Peltola’s congressional tenure, with moments of personal attacks exchanged.
• Sullivan criticized Peltola for seeking lobbying work after losing her House seat and highlighted reported turmoil in her office, while Peltola pointed to Sullivan’s increasing wealth during his time in office and linked his support for the Iran war to rising living costs.
• Both candidates agreed the conflict with Iran should end soon, but Sullivan defended his support for Trump’s war powers citing national security, whereas Peltola emphasized the need to remove the military without a peace deal to reduce domestic economic strain.
• The debate occurred amid a competitive Senate race rated as a toss-up by NBC News, with Democrats targeting the seat despite Alaska’s strong Republican lean in recent elections, and came shortly after high-profile Republican visits from Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
• The candidates avoided extensive discussion of Trump during the debate, contrasting with other races, and Peltola leads Sullivan from the August all-party primary, receiving 49.5% of the vote to Sullivan’s 41.4%.