By SUZANNE DOWNING
Sept. 14, 2026 – Sealaska has endorsed Republican US Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska’s 2026 general election, giving the incumbent support from one of the state’s largest Alaska Native corporations and from communities across Southeast Alaska.
The endorsement is notable because Sealaska initially backed only Democrats and a Democratic-supported undeclared candidate in Alaska’s three major statewide races.
On Aug. 14, Sealaska endorsed Democrat Mary Peltola for Senate, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins for governor and undeclared congressional candidate Bill Hill, who is supported by the Alaska Democratic Party.
Two weeks later, the Sealaska board expanded its endorsements for the general election. It endorsed both Peltola and Sullivan for Senate and both Hill and Republican Congressman Nick Begich for the House. Kreiss-Tomkins remained the corporation’s sole endorsement for governor.
“Our diversity is our strength, and through our history we have worked productively with each Alaska delegation, regardless of political party, toward progress and protection of our people and rights,” Sealaska Board Chairman Joe Nelson said in the corporation’s Aug. 28 announcement.
Sealaska said Sullivan and the other endorsed candidates had contributed positively to public-policy initiatives affecting Alaska Native people. The dual endorsements also give shareholders room to rank both major Senate candidates and both leading House candidates under Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system.
For Sullivan, the endorsement recognizes more than a decade of work with Alaska Native leaders on land, infrastructure, subsistence and economic issues.
Sullivan is a cosponsor of the Alaska Native Landless Equity Act, which seeks to address the exclusion of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee and Wrangell from the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The legislation would allow Native people from each of the five Southeast communities to establish an urban corporation and receive 23,040 acres of federal land.
Sullivan’s ARTIST Act, intended to protect the interstate sale of authentic Alaska Native handicrafts containing walrus ivory and other protected materials, was signed into law in June. He also pressed Etsy to exempt Alaska Native artists from restrictions on products made with traditional animal materials, allowing artists to continue selling legally produced fur items.
Sullivan joined other members of Alaska’s congressional delegation in defending the eligibility of Alaska Native corporations for tribal relief money under the federal CARES Act. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld the corporations’ eligibility in a 6–3 decision.
His Alaska Native Vietnam Era Veterans Land Allotment Act was signed into law in 2019, providing eligible veterans an opportunity to select up to 160 acres of federal land. Sullivan subsequently worked to extend the program for five years so that additional veterans and heirs could complete the application process.
Sullivan has also worked with the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission to secure international approval of subsistence whaling quotas and supported an increase in the federal tax deduction available to Alaska Native whaling captains.
On rural infrastructure, Sullivan has helped secure federal investments in water, sewer and sanitation projects, including more than $240 million authorized for the Alaska Native Village Sanitation Program.
Sealaska’s decision is a change from the corporation’s approach in the previous congressional election. In 2024, it endorsed Peltola alone for Alaska’s US House seat. Peltola subsequently lost that race to Begich.
The corporation is now covering both sides of the two federal contests, but it has not taken the same approach in the governor’s race.
Sealaska remains firmly behind Kreiss-Tomkins, a former Democratic state representative from Sitka.
In a break with tradition, it did not endorse Republican Bernadette Wilson, an Alaska Native candidate and tribal member who finished as the leading Republican in the August primary.Wilson is a member of the Naknek Native Village tribe and Naknek Native Village Council, due to her Aleut heritage.
Sealaska cited Kreiss-Tomkins’ work on Alaska Native language recognition, tribal consultation, subsistence policy and Indigenous participation in land and wildlife management.
The result is a carefully divided general-election slate: both leading candidates for US Senate, both leading candidates for US House, but only the Democrat for governor.
