Win Gruening: Proven leadership and accomplishment outclass dishonesty and lack of character, every time

By WIN GRUENING

Sept. 24, 2026 – Alaska’s 2026 US Senate race is turning into one of the most negative campaigns in recent history. Mary Peltola, the Democrat nominee, has set a new low bar in her effort to defeat incumbent US Senator Dan Sullivan.

Those seeking the privilege of representing Alaska at the very highest levels of elected office should be the most qualified and most deserving of the honor.

Hoping to flip the Senate, Democrats have funded a blizzard of negative ads for well over a year targeting Sen. Sullivan, even before there was an opponent.

Ads supporting Peltola, largely funded by Outside dark money interests, accuse Sen. Sullivan, a decorated 30-year retired Marine Corps officer, of secretly profiting from nefarious stock sales, ignoring disclosure rules, and enriching himself while in office. For the record, he never “hid” stock trades. The stocks in question were managed by a third-party advisor and never purchased by Sullivan but acquired through inheritance, then later sold without his knowledge. He filed the required disclosure immediately upon learning of the sale. He, like many other Americans, have seen their personal investment portfolios increase in value with a stock market that has gone up over 60% during the last 12 years.

Peltola, however, fails to mention how she has profited from her brief House tenure. When she lost her U.S. House seat after only one full term, she joined a DC lobbying firm earning hundreds of thousands of dollars advising clients on Congressional matters.

Why would Alaskans hire someone with her questionable integrity?

She’s even recruited actor Martin Sheen to proudly proclaim that, “My character in The West Wing famously said, “Decisions are made by those who show up…and Mary Peltola understands that.” Yet, Mary repeatedly failed to show up in her brief 2+ years as Alaska’s lone voice in the US House.

GovTrack records show Mary Peltola missed 18.9% of votes (234 of 1,241 votes) in the 118th Congress. Dan Sullivan missed 38 of 680 Senate votes—5.6%—over the comparable period. Mary’s record of attendance is one of the worst among her House colleagues: a group serving at the same time that had a 2.2% median life-time missed-vote rate.

Why would Alaskans hire someone who has demonstrated she can’t show up for work?

Peltola claims to be independent and that she will work with anyone, Democrat or Republican, but this is pure deception. In her time in office, part of when Democrats controlled the House and during the time that Joe Biden was President, she failed to get a single bill signed into law out of the 36 bills she introduced.

Why would Alaskans hire someone with such a poor record of achievement?

Peltola’s accusations are all demonstrably false, but they continue nonstop because she doesn’t care about the truth or running an honorable campaign, only winning. With no accomplishments or recognition to cite, she has resorted to attacking her opponent hoping to deflect attention from her lack of achievement. 

All of this is occurring amid a breaking New York Times story citing numerous former campaign staffers alleging Peltola engaged in insulting language, abusive behavior and homophobic slurs during angry tirades and meltdowns. They also describe a campaign in chaos that fired and hired workers based on Peltola’s whims.

Does this sound like a candidate worthy and capable of holding elected office?

Weigh that against Senator Sullivan’s experience and record.

The other side of Mary Peltola: Former aides describe outbursts, slurs and firings

Before being elected to the US Senate, he served as Alaska’s Attorney General and Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources. Dan holds a BA in Economics from Harvard University, and a joint Master of Science degree in Foreign Service and a law degree (JD) from Georgetown University.

Dan and his wife, Julie Fate Sullivan, have spent over 30 years together, beginning their life as a couple in Julie’s hometown of Fairbanks, and later moving to Anchorage to raise their three daughters.

Sen. Sullivan has demonstrated an ability to look beyond political divisions to do what’s best for Alaskans and actually deliver results. 

Since his election to the US Senate, Sullivan has been a leader in rebuilding our country’s military, promoting responsible resource development, opening markets for Alaska fishermen, cleaning up our oceans, and expanding benefits for our veterans and helping society’s most vulnerable, especially survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and those recovering from addiction. 

He has been more recently recognized for his efforts to strengthen military assets throughout the State, and particularly in Juneau, where he succeeded in getting the US Coast Guard’s new icebreaker stationed. He has been exceptionally effective in his key role on the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, which oversees the Corps of Engineers, in marshaling resources to help Juneau residents recover and rebuild following the destructive glacial outburst floods of the past three years.

We need a Senator who has demonstrated their devotion to all Alaskans, not someone whose first priority is to the political party trying to purchase Alaska’s US Senate seat.

Sen. Dan Sullivan has earned re-election on Nov. 3.

Win Gruening retired as senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank for the State of Alaska in 2012. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1970. After serving as a pilot in the US Air Force flying in the Pacific and Vietnam, Win began his banking career with Rainier Bank in Seattle and moved home  to Juneau in 1980. Win has been involved extensively in various local and statewide organizations such as United Way, Junior Achievement, and the Alaska Committee.

Suzanne Downing: The Mary Peltola meltdown as her abusive text messages surface