Mary Peltola offers plan to lower costs for Alaskans
Incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan has repeatedly voted against efforts to overturn economic policies considered to be responsible for rising costs.
The cost of living in Alaska was the fifth highest among U.S. states in 2025, according to the site World Population Review. Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola is running for U.S. Senate and proposing a multi-step plan to make it more affordable.
Peltola is one of 16 candidates challenging Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan in the 2026 election. The four candidates receiving the most votes in the Aug. 18 nonpartisan primary will advance to the Nov. 3 general election, in which voters will choose the winner by ranked choice voting.
On her campaign site, Peltola lists affordability as a top priority. To lower the costs of groceries, energy, and housing for Alaskans, Peltola proposes refining more Alaskan oil in Alaska and restoring tax credits for solar, wind, and hydropower projects that were cut by the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act; eliminating federal income taxes for Alaskans earning less than $92,000 annually and on Social Security benefits; expanding child tax credits and childcare availability; banning price gouging and block anti-competitive mergers; reducing shipping costs for freight and mail to and from Alaska; and cracking down on out-of-state companies and hedge funds buying up Alaskan homes and offering tax credits for renters.
Sullivan’s campaign website does not include policy proposals. It says: “From passing the biggest tax cut in American history and unleashing Alaska’s energy potential, to making historic investments in our military and national defense and strengthening Alaska’s healthcare system, Dan is running for re-election to continue delivering real results for Alaska.”
A Sullivan campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
Sullivan voted in favor of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which slashed about $1 trillion in federal health spending over a decade and eliminated clean energy infrastructure investments that had been approved in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Sullivan repeatedly voted against legislation to direct President Donald Trump to remove military forces from the hostilities in Iran. Since Trump began U.S. military attacks on Feb. 28, gasoline prices have increased and, according to Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, the average American household has paid $1,000 in higher costs for goods.
Sullivan repeatedly voted against proposals to overturn Trump’s tariff policies. According to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, those tariffs amounted to an average tax increase of $1,000 for every American household in 2025.
Peltola told reporters in May that she would have voted to end the military attacks on Iran: “Our system was designed for a balance of powers. Clearly, there is not a balance of power right now. Clearly this administration has an outsized role in the direction, whether it’s tariffs or wars. We have got to have a Congress that doesn’t just cede all of their power.”
