Fundraising for Alaska’s U.S. Senate and House races has jumped into high gear, with candidates raising millions of dollars in the latest fundraising round in the lead-up to the November election.

Alaska’s U.S. Senate race between incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic challenger Mary Peltola is seen as one of a handful of key contests across the country that could determine whether Republicans maintain control of the U.S. Senate in the coming midterm elections.

Peltola hauled in close to $9 million, a record amount for a first-quarter period in an Alaska Senate contest, her campaign said in a statement earlier this week.

Peltola’s fundraising outpaced Sullivan’s by roughly a 5-1 margin, helping give a quick boost to her campaign, though Sullivan has more cash on hand.

Peltola is a former U.S. House lawmaker from Western Alaska who supported gun rights, ConocoPhillips’ controversial Willow oil project, protections for fish and improvements for Alaska infrastructure.

Sullivan is a second-term senator, former U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer and strong advocate of President Donald Trump who has supported resource development in the state, military expansion and infrastructure improvements.

Recent polls favor Peltola, but Alaska voters typically favor Republican incumbents for federal office.

Sullivan has said he expects to be heavily outspent but plans to prevail, similar to 2020 when he coasted to victory over independent challenger Al Gross, and 2014 when he beat Democratic incumbent Mark Begich.

Peltola’s campaign reported $8.7 million in total receipts for the year’s first three months, according to its filing with the Federal Election Commission.

The vast majority of contributions, at $7.6 million, came from individuals. The remainder, about $1.1 million, came from political committees, including about $650,000 from committees authorized by Peltola, the report showed.

Peltola, who recently completed the first part of a tour of rural Alaska villages, said in the statement that Alaska fishermen, farmers, teachers, nurses, firefighters and others contributed.

Peltola’s campaign spent about $2.9 million, the report says. About $1.5 million of that went to companies for digital fundraising efforts.

The campaign has $5.7 million cash on hand.

“Alaskans know DC isn’t working for them, and they’re ready for change,” Peltola said in the statement from her campaign. “It’s going to take all of us, but together we’ll take on the rigged system in DC that’s hurting each and every one of these communities. We are going to put Alaska first.”

The Fish Family Freedom Fund, a political action committee authorized by Peltola that supports her campaign, raised about $845,000 in the quarter, according to its report to the commission.

Peltola’s campaign also received large donations from notable philanthropists and Democratic politicians, such as $7,000 from Gov. JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor and vocal Trump critic.

Several left-leaning political action committees also contributed to Peltola’s campaign, including the Blue Dog Political Action Committee, a group of centrist House Democrats that advocate for fiscal responsibility and on national security issues.

Peltola joined the Blue Dog caucus in 2023, several months after she became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress. She lost the seat in 2024 to Rep. Nick Begich, a Republican, when Trump surged to victory amid lackluster support for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Sullivan’s campaign took in $1.7 million in total receipts, according to its report the FEC.

Close to half that, or $875,000, were contributions from individuals, the report says.

About $275,000 came from political action committees, and another $530,000 came from political committees authorized by the campaign, the report says.

Sullivan donors included executives from ConocoPhillips, Alaska’s biggest oil producer, such as ConocoPhillips Alaska president Erec Isaacson, who gave $1,000. Chugach Alaska Corporation PAC, a political committee for the Alaska Native corporation in Southcentral Alaska, gave $5,000. Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, chief executive of Alaska mining company Contango Ore that operates the Manh Choh mine near Fairbanks, gave $3,505.

John Shively, chair of the Pebble Partnership that seeks to open the controversial Pebble Mine, also donated $500, after giving the same amount in the previous quarter. Sullivan has said he opposes the mine.

Also, more than $400,000 was contributed to the Sullivan Victory fund, a Sullivan-authorized political action committee.

“This historic support sends a clear message: Alaskans know that Dan delivers,” said Nate Adams, the campaign spokesman for Sullivan, in a statement. “From bolstering our Alaska-based military and Coast Guard, unleashing Alaska’s resource economy, and securing historic investments in Alaska’s healthcare system, Senator Sullivan has a proven record of results.”

The Sullivan campaign spent less than $500,000 in the quarter, with a large chunk of that going to companies for fundraising consulting.

The campaign has $7.1 million cash on hand, the report shows.

Begich has cash advantage

In Alaska’s U.S. House race, Begich had more cash in his campaign account at the end of the reporting period than his two challengers combined.

But Bill Hill, an independent former public school educator and commercial fisherman from Naknek, reported raising more than Begich from individual contributions, after entering the race in mid-January.

Candidate Matt Schultz, a Democrat and a pastor at Anchorage First Presbyterian Church, raised less than the other two candidates.

Begich reported having more than $2.8 million in his campaign account at the end of March, after raising just over $700,000 in the first three months of the year, of which nearly $250,000 came from political action committees. He also received $345,000 in transfers from other committees, including $215,000 from Grow the Majority, a committee seeking to defend Republican control of the House.

Begich used $50,000 in campaign contributions to repay part of a loan he made to his campaign account in 2022. His campaign expenditures during the first three months of the year totaled $363,000, including $50,000 on mailing services and $47,000 paid to WinRed, a Republican fundraising platform.

Hill reported having just under $600,000 in his campaign account at the end of March, after raising $783,000 — the vast majority of which came from individual donors.

Hill’s fundraising far surpassed that of Schultz, the other candidate seeking to unseat Begich, who raised $270,000 during the reporting period and had just under $350,000 in his campaign account at the end of March.

Hill spent $188,000 during the reporting period, of which $87,000 went directly to Ship Creek Group, a political consulting agency that has worked for high profile left-of-center campaigns in Alaska, including Peltola’s first run for U.S. House.

Schultz spent $143,000.

Spending ramps up

Other political organizations and committees have also announced early spending, leading to a trickle of campaign ads that is set to become a flood as the campaign season heats up.

The leadership PAC for Senate Republicans announced earlier this month that Alaska is among eight battleground states where it will spend money in the coming election cycle. Alaska will see $15 million in spending from the Senate Leadership Fund as part of its effort to keep Sullivan in office.

Last Frontier Action, an organization supporting Sullivan, has also committed to six-figure spending to support Sullivan and run ads against Peltola.

Majority Forward, an organization supporting Democrats in the Senate, has already begun spending on ads attacking Sullivan.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, which seeks to protect the Republican majority in the House, has begun spending money to defend Begich. Alaska is one of a handful of competitive states where the committee is running ads touting the Republican-backed tax bill that passed last year.

Members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are being hailed as heroes after seizing thousands of pounds of illegal fish fins.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is the lead federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior for combating wildlife trafficking in the United States.

In October 2025, the agency proved just that, as wildlife inspectors intercepted 1,600 pounds of shark fins while conducting searches in Anchorage, Alaska, according to a statement from the USFWS.

Officials uncovered shark fins worth over $1 million across multiple U.S. ports, starting with a shipment in Anchorage.

The cargo was disguised as car parts to travel through Alaska, Kentucky and Ohio, and is part of a larger trafficking network, officials stated.

“The coordinated enforcement action was part of Operation Thunder, a global effort to combat illegal wildlife trade,” a statement from the Wildlife Service said.

“These weren’t small-time violations,” a statement from the USFWS said.

“This was an organized criminal network exploiting protected species for profit.”

Officers shared a photo of the 26 boxes of shark fins uncovered in disguise.

Most of the fins come from silky sharks and bigeye thresher sharks, both of which are protected species.

According to the USFWS, wildlife trafficking can harm people by increasing the risk of zoonotic diseases and severely impacting food, land and other natural resources that humans need for survival.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (ALASKA BEACON) – A Slovakian musher living in Tok filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and three Biden-administration officials in April over her denied immigration petition, according to Haley Lehman with the Alaska Beacon.

Silvia Kleinova, 48, filed for permanent residency in the United States in November 2021 based on her accomplishments in sled dog racing. Under U.S. immigration law, green cards can be granted to immigrants at the top of their field in athletics under the extraordinary ability classification.

Kleinova started mushing at 18-years-old and stated in her petition that she has been dedicated to sled dog racing and the breeding and training of Siberian huskies since then. She moved to Alaska with her spouse in December 2012.

Kleinova won the International Federation of Sledding Sports World Cup in the four dog class for registered Nordic breeds in January 2017 and the IFSS Global and Continental Europe World Cup in the 2016-2017 season as a member of the Czech Republic team. She went on to compete for Team USA in the 2018-2019 season where she won four gold medals.

In her petition for permanent residency, Kleinova included letters from the president of Czech Association of Sleddog Sports, president of the International Federation of Sledding Sports and former president of the United States Federation of Sled Dog Sports affirming that Kleinova is a top athlete in her field.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied Kleinova’s petition in October 2023, writing that the awards Kleinova received “do not appear to be major, internationally recognized awards.” Her application did not reflect that she had national or international acclaim, the denial said, and she did not provide sufficient evidence of her membership to the IFSS.

Kleinova appealed the decision in 2023 and received letters upholding the denial in August 2024, May 2025 and November 2025. A motion to reconsider her petition was dismissed in March.

Kleinova filed her lawsuit in April. She asked the court to declare that the USCIS violated the Administrative Procedure Act and remand the case back to USCIS for reconsideration.

“As an athlete who has represented the United States to the best of my ability, with full dedication and commitment to training and competition, this decision has been extremely disappointing. I have devoted years of effort to building and training my team and achieving success at the highest level of my sport,” she wrote.

Kleinova filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and three officials under President Joseph Biden’s administration, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ur Jaddou and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. The case was assigned to Chief U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason.

Kleinova wrote that “USCIS discounted Plaintiff’s [Kleinova’s] evidence of competitive success, awards, and recognition, including race results and gold medals, and failed to give appropriate weight to her participation at the highest levels of her sport.”

The Department of Homeland Security and Kleinova did not immediately respond to the Alaska Beacon’s request for comment.

This story has been republished with permission from the Alaska Beacon.

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