If you’re running a campaign in Alaska this cycle, here is a number worth remembering before you spend another dollar on messaging: 50.
Democrats think they have found a nontraditional path to flipping the U.S. Senate this year, and it runs through Alaska. National Democrats have made no secret of targeting this seat, and the latest polling shows why they see an opening: Mary Peltola is running a genuinely competitive race against incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan in a state Donald Trump carried by 13 points. It is a reality that is no doubt setting off alarms in every Republican campaign office in Alaska, but voters above the age of 50 hold the power to silence them.
The 50-plus voter bloc makes up nearly two-thirds of the state’s registered voters, far outpacing their younger counterparts. What’s more, 87% of Alaskans over 50 described themselves as “extremely motivated” to vote compared to the 62% of younger Alaskans expressing the same sentiment. Knowing that the result of a single Anchorage Assembly race or control of the U.S. Senate could turn on its head with a few hundred votes, 50-plus voters are the constituents Republicans should focus on.Â
At the core of this bloc’s importance is their consistency. Across the country, older voters are the ones who show up to the polls, and that constant especially holds true in Alaska. In a state where many communities are only accessible via plane or boat, voting can provide its own share of obstacles such as ballots delayed by the weather, unpredictable mail services, and limited early-voting hours where in-person is the only reliable option. These hurdles are only more pronounced for Alaska’s older citizens, yet despite those challenges, 73.6% of the state’s 65-plus citizens voted in the 2024 presidential election. Without fail, older voters are some of the biggest civic participators, and a winning campaign will treat this bloc with the attention it warrants.
It should come as no surprise that these voters’ most pressing concerns are related to Social Security and their cost of living. Fairbanks residents, for instance, spend 10% of their income on energy, more than triple the roughly 3% national average. Healthcare provides an additional burden, where Alaska’s medical costs run 50% higher than those in Western states. And older Alaskans remember all too well the Permanent Fund dividend, which has gone from a $2000 annual check to a politically contested line item slashed nearly in half over the last decade. These combined pressures clearly illustrate the daily challenges older Alaskans are facing when it comes to their finances and their interest in avoiding any cuts to Social Security.
Campaigns that treat this generation of voters as an afterthought to be appeased with photo ops at senior centers are misreading the room. These are citizens who have spent a lifetime showing up for their families, performing their civic duty, and earning their way to a well-deserved retirement. They are looking for action, not platitudes, and they will voice their support for the candidates who understand that principle.Â
Among these voters, Sen. Sullivan holds the momentum 54 to 46 percent, but zoom out, and he trails Peltola by a slim margin. With so much on the line and election day closing in, Republicans in Alaska must take this moment to double down on their commitments to 50-plus voters and hammer home a winning message of no cuts to Social Security, lowering prescription drug costs, and making life more affordable.
If there is a lesson here, it’s this: Alaska has not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 2014, and that streak has never been an accident. It has been earned, cycle after cycle, by candidates who took the state’s older voters seriously. That work does not get easier this year just because it has always worked before. Sen. Sullivan and every Republican below him on the ballot have a real chance to keep that streak alive, but only if the 50-plus vote stays exactly where it needs to be on Election Day.
Early voting for 2026 general election is underway. Do your part— go vote today!
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