Six years after he unseated Democrat Sen. Mike Begich, Republican Dan Sullivan should be coasting to reelection as U.S. Senator from Alaska.
But that’s not the case. The most recent polls in the Land of the Midnight Sun show the Senate race to be a “barnburner.”
According to a New York Times/Siena College poll completed last week, Sullivan leads Democrat-endorsed independent Al Gross 45% to 37% among likely voters statewide.
Another 10% support John Howe, equipment shop owner and nominee of the Alaskan Independence Party, a libertarian-like party that supports lower taxes and smaller government.
The Times poll came on the heels of a Patinkin Research Strategies poll showing Gross edging Sullivan 47% to 46%.
Much of the unusually strong standing of Gross centers around the candidate himself. A successful orthopedic surgeon who is registered with neither major party, native Alaskan Gross underscored his status as a political outsider by running as an independent and securing the endorsement of Alaska Democrats.
Most recently, Gross was assisted by secretly recorded tapes dealing with the controversial development project known as Pebble Mine. The project, which would bring large-scale development to Bristol Bay, is opposed by most Alaskans because of its possible dangers to fishery and wildlife. Gross has been an outspoken foe of Pebble Mine.
Last month, tapes were released by actors posing as potential investors and talking to the Pebble Mine executives. At one point, former Pebble Limited Partnership CEO Tom Collier is heard saying Sullivan’s lack of a public stance would work in favor of the mine.
“He’s going to try to ride out the election and remain quiet,” Collier is heard saying of Sullivan.
Since the revelation, Sullivan has come out strongly against the Pebble Mine project.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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