Mary Peltola ad spend is nearly all aimed out of state, as she looks for donors

By SUZANNE DOWNING

Feb. 21, 2026 – Mary Peltola’s US Senate campaign is spending its early advertising dollars out of state.

Despite running with an “Alaska First” message in her bid to unseat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, campaign finance data from major digital platforms shows that most of Peltola’s online ad spending so far has been directed toward voters and donors in the Lower 48, not her home state.

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Peltola has argued on the campaign trail that “nobody in the lower 48 is coming to save us,” a line aimed at persuading Alaskans to send her back to Washington after she lost her US House seat in 2024. But the campaign’s ad targeting suggests a strategy focused heavily on raising money and building support outside Alaska.

According to the Google Ad Transparency Center, Peltola’s campaign has spent at least $124,400 on digital advertising on Google platforms since launching Jan. 12. Just over 1% of that spending occurred in Alaska.

California alone accounted for roughly $18,200 — about 15% of the campaign’s Google ad spending. Washington state and New York, both major fundraising hubs for Democratic candidates, saw $14,700 and $8,800 in ad spending, respectively.

Alaska, meanwhile, does not appear among the top ten states receiving the most campaign ad dollars. The state has seen only about $2,000 in spending, roughly the same as Ohio and Michigan.

The campaign’s largest Google ad buy so far excludes Alaska. That ad, which has run for more than a month and cost up to $125,000, directs viewers to Peltola’s ActBlue fundraising page and has generated up to 800,000 impressions across every state except Alaska.

By contrast, the campaign spent only a few thousand dollars on a similar Google ad targeting Alaska alone, which has been viewed up to 20,000 times. That ad uses the familiar slogan from her prior congressional runs: “fish, family, freedom.”

Meta advertising data shows a similar pattern. Peltola ran a Facebook and Instagram ad touting the results of a January independent poll showing her narrowly leading Sullivan, 48% to 46.4%. That ad received the most impressions in California, followed by Alaska and Washington.

Another fundraising ad urging supporters to donate $35 appeared to exclude Alaska altogether, with California, Washington, and New York receiving the largest shares of its 800,000 impressions. That ad buy cost the campaign up to $35,000.

Peltola faces a steep climb in a Republican-leaning state where President Donald Trump carried Alaska by 14 points in 2024. Political observers expect her campaign will depend heavily on out-of-state donors and national Democratic support if she hopes to defeat Sullivan in November.

Alaska is expected to be a key battleground for Senate Democrats, as Minority Leader Chuck Schumer eyes the state as a cheap pickup date, part of a difficult path to reclaiming Senate control.