President Trump traveled roughly 4,000 miles over eight hours to a hockey rink in Wasilla, Alaska, to energize voters for Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is in a harder fight than expected against Democrat Mary Peltola, according to Politico.
Trump won Alaska by 13 points two years ago, but his approval is now below water there, and independents outnumber each party’s registered voters. Diesel prices are close to $7 a gallon. Peltola has plenty of cash and holds a lead in most polls, while the Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc. is turning more attention to the state as part of its effort to defend the Senate.
Alaska strategists and voters told Politico that Sullivan has a hard road despite the visit and outside spending. Scott Kendall, who worked on two Murkowski campaigns, described Trump’s role as double-edged.
“Donald Trump’s support in this current climate is both a blessing and a curse,” Kendall said.
Some at the rally agreed the outlook is bleak. Contractor Matt Niessink, who has backed Trump three times, said he thinks the state is trending Democratic and wished the president would tone down his behavior.
At the event, Trump asked supporters to “pretend that I’m on the ballot” and repeated his promise of $5,000 payments if Republicans hold Congress. Sullivan told reporters the goal was to turn out voters.
Sullivan has stuck close to Trump even on unpopular issues. He told the crowd the Middle East conflict is temporary and the real “forever war” is Democrats’ campaign against Alaska’s oil and gas industry. A campaign aide criticized the plan to import Russian diesel, but Sullivan didn’t sign on to a call from four Republican senators, including Lisa Murkowski, for Trump to reverse it.
Art Hackney, a Republican strategist who runs a pro-Sullivan super PAC, said most of Sullivan’s backers want more distance from Trump, but that the president’s treatment of Murkowski may be shaping Sullivan’s thinking.