‘Lower 48’ Jab Becomes Flashpoint in Alaska Senate Race

The Alaska Senate race has turned into a fight over authenticity, with both candidates working to brand their rival as beholden to the “Lower 48” while casting themselves as the true voice of the state.

An insult rooted in Alaska’s identity

One of the sharpest jabs in Alaska politics is being tied to the “Lower 48,” shorthand for taking orders from outside interests rather than standing up for Alaskans. It has become a central theme in the state’s U.S. Senate race, one of a handful expected to decide control of the chamber in November.

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan’s campaign has made the label a key line of attack against Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, lumping her in with “Lower 48 liberals” who have opposed expanded oil and gas drilling in a state long dependent on the industry. Peltola, who is Alaska Native, counters that she “took on” then-President Joe Biden, a fellow Democrat, to help secure approval of the Willow oil project in 2023, and says she’ll “take on anyone, including Democrats — anyone in the Lower 48 who doesn’t understand what Alaska needs.”

The label taps into Alaska’s mystique as “The Last Frontier,” a state for less than 70 years, known for rugged landscapes and communities often reachable only by air or water. That isolation breeds a culture of self-reliance, and both major campaigns have leaned into the idea that Alaska, and its people, are different. “We love the persona Alaska is a tough place to live,” said Andrew Halcro, a Republican political podcast host and former state lawmaker who has lived in Alaska nearly all his life.

Oil and land disputes fuel the friction

Alaska, where the federal government owns about 60% of the land, has long had a tense relationship with Washington, particularly under Democratic administrations that have restricted logging, mining and oil and gas development on environmental grounds. The Obama and Biden administrations banned leasing on roughly half of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, home to caribou, polar bears and migratory bird habitat. The Trump administration has since rolled back those restrictions and is backing lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Disputes over road building and logging in the Tongass National Forest, dating back to the Clinton administration, and over the state’s share of federal oil and mineral royalties have added to the friction. Although oil production has fallen sharply from its 1980s peak, officials point to strong interest from major companies in a recent lease sale for the petroleum reserve as a sign of a turnaround.

Rising fuel prices tied to the Iran war have hit Alaska communities hard, especially remote areas that rely on fuel flown in or delivered by barge before rivers freeze. For Darryl Hugo, who lives in the North Slope community of Anaktuvuk Pass, oil development is the top issue this election. He backs Sullivan and credits oil revenue with funding his town’s clinic, school, police and fire departments and water system. “My region’s economy depends on oil,” he said.

A fight over who speaks for the ‘real Alaska’

Robert Sewell, an independent from the Juneau area, said the “Lower 48” jabs amount to both candidates “fighting to establish who is the real spokesperson for the real Alaska,” comparing it to the schoolyard taunt “I know you are, but what am I?”

During her unsuccessful 2024 reelection bid, Peltola declined to endorse Kamala Harris and said she wouldn’t vote for Trump. This year, after Harris offered her support ahead of Alaska’s August primary, Peltola’s campaign said she “isn’t seeking endorsements from anyone from the Lower 48.” In campaign videos touting her role in the Willow project, Peltola says she’ll keep working with Trump, who has carried Alaska in all three of his campaigns, to advance more oil and gas projects. Sewell, a Peltola supporter, said he doesn’t think “for one moment that she likes Trump or Trump’s agendas” on other issues.

Sullivan, originally from Ohio, moved to Alaska in the late 1990s in his early 30s. A retired Marine, he has served as Alaska attorney general and natural resources commissioner and as an assistant secretary of state under President George W. Bush. Spokesperson Nate Adams said being an Alaskan, for Sullivan, “means loving this state, fighting everyday for his fellow Alaskans and making sure Alaskans, not Lower 48 liberals, decide our future.”

Ads pile up, but voters may want something else

The SLF PAC, which backs a Republican Senate majority, has run ads mocking Peltola’s Alaska bona fides, with one saying, “They dress her up, throw her out on a stream somewhere, make her look like an Alaskan.” Peltola’s campaign has fired back that Alaskans “won’t be fooled by mudslinging ads” and has sought to tie Sullivan to “Lower 48 special interest donors.”

Halcro, the podcaster, said Alaskans have been flooded with such messaging but questioned whether voters actually want to hear it this year. “It’s all of this stuff just to make us angry at a time where we really genuinely, genuinely just need stability,” he said. “We just need to elect somebody who’s not going to break anything.”