A new television ad is running in Alaska, sponsored by the National Republican Congressional Committee, and it’s directly focused on the dishonesty of Rep. Mary Peltola, who told Americans on national television that President Joe Biden was mentally fit to be president.
White House records show that Peltola met with the president in private on three occasions last year, in addition to the many large-group functions she attended where the president was the host. She also met with Vice President Kamala Harris in private last September.
This is the second ad that the NRCC has done pointing out that Peltola has lied to Alaskans about Biden, but this is the group’s first television ad. Alaska was chosen to have the first television ad produced by the NRCC in any campaign this year, showing that the political action committee intends to prioritize Alaska’s congressional race.
The NRCC has not run TV ads against Peltola in any significant way in the past. It stayed out of Alaska’s mixed-up congressional election in 2022, which included both a special primary, special general, regular primary and regular general, after the death of Rep. Don Young.
Thus, Inside Elections, a poll analytics group, has now shifted the race from “lean Democratic” to “tilt Democratic” in a move toward Republicans, because Peltola is facing her first serious push back through television ads. The shift is also an acknowledgement that Donald Trump will likely carry Alaska easily.
Alaskans will go to the polls in August to determine the top four congressional candidates who will appear on the November ballot. Alaska, since 2022, has held an open primary and a ranked-choice general election. The open primary means that it’s likely that three Republicans and Democrat Peltola will go to the general election ballot, something that may give her an advantage, as it did in 2022.
The ad the NRCC ran previously this summer was on digital platforms only: