NRA endorses Nick Begich and the Real Dan Sullivan … and not Decoy Dan, Uncle Tom, Rev. Matt, or Maybe Mary

By SUZANNE DOWNING

July 14, 2026 – In an election year filled with familiar names and look-alike candidates, the National Rifle Association has made its choices unmistakably clear: It is backing the real Dan Sullivan for the US Senate and Nick Begich for Congress — not false flag Decoy Dan Daniel J. Sullivan (running for Senate), not Democrat Tom Begich (who’s running for governor), not Democrat Matt Schultz (running for Congress), and certainly not Democrat Mary Peltola (running for Senate).

The endorsements of Sen. Dan Sullivan and Congressman Nick Begich signal that the nation’s best-known gun rights organization has returned to supporting candidates with consistently pro-Second Amendment voting records in Alaska, after many gun owners questioned its 2024 endorsement of Peltola over Nick Begich, who is a staunch conservative and gun-rights protector. The endorsement of Peltola that year brought the national gun rights organization a lot of criticism from Alaskans, including groups like the Alaska Outdoor Council.

That earlier endorsement also surprised many Alaska conservatives, as it seemed the NRA appeared too eager to demonstrate bipartisan credentials by endorsing a Democrat in a high-profile race. It actually cost the group membership in Alaska. Peltola, the only Democrat endorsed by the NRA in 2024, frequently emphasized her personal connection to firearms during the campaign, saying her family owned dozens of guns. She often cited the figure of 76 firearms, although many rural Alaskans note those firearms largely belonged to her late husband, Buzzy Peltola and may have been acquired under questionable circumstances.

Peltola has consistently described herself as supportive of gun ownership for hunting and subsistence. Her public comments frame the Second Amendment primarily through the lens of hunting rather than its broader constitutional protections.

The text of the Second Amendment reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Constitutional scholars and gun rights advocates point out that its core purpose extends beyond hunting or sporting use.

This election cycle, the NRA is backing two Alaska candidates with long-established records supporting gun rights.

Sullivan, a retired Marine Corps colonel, has consistently opposed federal gun control measures that infringe on constitutional rights.

“I am honored to earn the endorsement of the NRA,” Sullivan said. “The Second Amendment is a fundamental constitutional right and Alaskans understand that better than anyone. I will always fight to protect the rights of Alaska’s gun owners, defend our hunting heritage, and stand up to those who want to undermine our constitutional freedoms. I’ll never stop working to ensure the next generation of Alaskans enjoys the same liberties that have defined our state from the beginning.”

Begich likewise welcomed the endorsement while contrasting his record with that of his Democratic challenger, Matt Schultz.

“Democrat Matt Schultz, and radicals like him in Congress, want to dissolve our traditions, demonize law-abiding citizens, and erode our Second Amendment freedoms,” Begich said. “I’m proud to protect our Constitutional right to bear arms, a right that cannot and shall not be infringed in the Last Frontier, or anywhere in our great nation.”

The endorsements also represent an unmistakable break from the NRA’s previous support for Peltola. While the organization has occasionally endorsed Democrats it views as supportive of gun rights, its decision in Alaska during the last congressional race drew criticism from many members and conservative activists who believed Begich’s record more closely aligned with the organization’s longstanding mission.

With Sullivan facing Peltola in the Senate race and Begich facing Schultz in the House race, the NRA has now aligned itself squarely behind Alaska’s conservative congressional delegation.

For Alaska voters who closely follow Second Amendment issues, the endorsements remove any ambiguity about where the organization believes the strongest constitutional defenders now stand. They also close the chapter on one of the more unusual endorsement decisions in recent Alaska political history, when one of the nation’s largest gun rights organizations broke with many of its own supporters by backing a Democrat over a Republican in a state where firearm ownership remains deeply woven into the culture.