Democrat former Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska is preparing a bid to reenter public office, likely to challenge Sen. Dan Sullivan (R).

Peltola had been weighing a bid for either Senate or the governor’s mansion but has gravitated towards challenging Sullivan, Axios reported Tuesday.

That’s music to Democrat Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (NY) ears. Schumer, in desperate need of good news, has been working to recruit Peltola since at least summer 2025 after her 2024 defeat for reelection to the House by Republican Rep. Nick Begich.

Peltola’s likely entrance into the race did not catch Sullivan flatfooted. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has included Alaska in their Senate battleground map in anticipation of a Peltola run and is prepared to attack Peltola and tout Sullivan’s own record upon her expected entrance into the race.

President Donald Trump won Alaska by 13 points in reliably-red Alaska. But the state’s unique dynamics, fueled by its ranked-choice voting system, has a history of giving statewide Democrat candidates an advantage.

Peltola won a special election to replace the late Rep. Don Young (R-AK) in August 2022 after Begich and former Gov. Sarah Palin split the Republican vote. In the election for a full term just months later, Peltola used her nascent incumbency – and support from Trump-nemesis Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK) – to once again top Begich and Palin.

In both races, Peltola benefited from Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system. Begich finished third in each of the 2022 contests after heated back-and-forth with Palin. In those races, after Begich’s eliminations, voters supporting Begich had their second choices count – second choices that overwhelmingly favored Peltola over Palin, with whom Begich had sparred during the campaign.

Sullivan does not yet have a serious Republican challenger. Yet Schumer has found success in other red states encouraging Democrats to run as independents, siphoning votes away from Republican incumbents.

Outside groups associated with Schumer spent around $1.5 million last year to soften up Sullivan, Axios reports, a sign Schumer is prepared to spend further in the state in an effort to reclaim the title of Senate Majority Leader.

Republicans enjoy a slim majority with 53 seats to Democrats’ 47. And although the 2026 map is favorable to Republicans, one or two balls bouncing Schumer’s way in states like Alaska could give Democrats the edge. And even if Schumer successfully whittles away at the Republican majority, anti-Trump senators like Alaska’s own Murkowski could bring Trump’s agenda to a halt during the last two years of his administration.

After losing her reelection bid, Peltola joined Holland & Hart — a law firm with a lobbying practice — as their senior director of Alaska affairs. Former members of Congress are subject to a one-year cooling-off period during which they are barred from formally lobbying former congressional colleagues, although lawmakers often exploit loopholes and find workarounds to avoid the categorization of their advocacy as lobbying or to trigger thresholds that would require reporting.

Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye.