Why Alaska’s Senate and House races look competitive in 2020

Ella Nilsen - August 18th, 2020

For evidence that Democrats have expanded their map of competitive US Senate and House races, look no further than Alaska.

Alaska voted for President Donald Trump by close to 15 percentage points in 2016, but it is nothing if not fiercely independent — featuring the highest number of independent voters of any state. National Democrats would like to capitalize on that, hoping to unseat Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan with Dr. Al Gross, an independent candidate running for the Democratic nomination.

Another independent candidate, educator Alyse Galvin, is making her second attempt to take the seat currently held by Alaska’s at-large Republican Rep. Don Young, who, at age 87, is the longest-serving member of Congress. Galvin lost to Young in the 2018 midterms but is hoping a political year that’s looking favorable to Democrats could sweep her into office.

Although Gross and Galvin are independents, they are each running for the Democratic party’s nomination in Tuesday’s primary, along with several others. Each has a key advantage: Gross has the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, while Galvin is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee-endorsed candidate. And both are favored to win their respective races.

Whether they will actually be successful in the general election is yet to be seen. Beyond having to face incumbents, the winners of the Democratic primaries will face unique hurdles due to the pandemic: The coronavirus has severely limited in-person campaigning, which could hurt challengers running in such a massive state.