Democrat Hurt In Car Crash, Postpones Campaign Events A Week Before Midterms

Alaska Democrat Senate candidate Mary Peltola postponed her campaign events this week after she sustained “minor injuries” that required medical attention from a car accident in Anchorage on Saturday night.

Peltola and her family were struck by another vehicle as they were heading to the Alaska Federation of Natives Annual Banquet, her campaign said in a statement Sunday.

“Mary and her family sustained minor injuries but are in good spirits,” Peltola’s campaign manager Cheryl Bruce said. “Unfortunately, per the advice of medical professionals, Mary’s upcoming events in Fairbanks and Bethel will be rescheduled for later in the week as she takes time to recover.”

Bruce added that Peltola is “disappointed” the accident is taking her off the campaign trail with nine days to go before the midterm elections. 

“Mary is disappointed that the accident is delaying the start of her Alaska Always Tour, and she is eager to get back on the campaign trail to speak directly with Alaskans about her plan to take on the rigged system and lower costs for working families,” Bruce wrote.

Peltola’s campaign said it is moving her events that were originally scheduled for Sunday and Monday to later in the week, allowing her time to recover. 

Peltola is in a tight race with Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, where she holds a narrow lead in the polls. Trump won Alaska in 2024 by 13 percentage points, a margin that would normally make it likely to go to Republicans. However, this year’s ballot is complicated.

There is a third candidate running named Daniel J. Sullivan, who, with a similar name, could possibly take votes away from Dan S. Sullivan, the incumbent. Republicans filed with Alaska’s Division of Elections to get the other Dan Sullivan off the ballot and initially succeeded, citing that Sullivan was not running in “good faith” and allegedly had ties to a Democrat strategist.

The election agency sided with Republicans and kicked the other Dan Sullivan off the ballot, but a judge later reversed that decision and Alaska’s highest court upheld it. Following Trump’s orders, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on Thursday to preemptively block Alaska from certifying results if Sullivan narrowly loses.