Peltola maintains cash advantage over Begich in final month of campaigning for Alaska’s U.S. House seat

Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola continued to far outpace her Republican opponent Nick Begich III in campaign fundraising during August and September, according to federal filings posted Tuesday.

Peltola received more than $3.1 million in August and September as she campaigned to keep Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, which she won in 2022.

Meanwhile, Begich — a businessman who unsuccessfully ran against Peltola in 2022 — raised just under $780,000 in the same period as he seeks to return the seat to Republican control.

Alaska’s U.S. House seat represents one of a handful of districts won by former President Donald Trump in 2020 that are currently held by a Democrat, leading both Republicans and Democrats to pour money into the race ahead of the November election.

Begich has gained additional support from national Republican leaders in recent weeks after another GOP challenger, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, dropped out of the race following the August primary. Though Dahlstrom had originally received the endorsements of prominent Republicans — and the promise of their fundraising might — most of those GOP members promptly switched to support Begich after Dahlstrom dropped out.

Peltola has maintained a heavy fundraising lead throughout the campaign, even as Republicans eye the seat in their quest to hold on to control of the House in the 2024 election.

[On Alaska U.S. House candidate’s disclosure form, successful investments and a conspiratorial publisher]

Peltola’s recent fundraising haul includes more than $276,000 from the House Victory Project 2024, a joint fundraising committee led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, benefiting Democratic candidates in competitive races.

Begich reported raising just over $77,000 from Grow the Majority, a similar committee led by House Speaker Mike Johnson to benefit Republican candidates.

Peltola and Begich will also face two other candidates in the November election. They include Alaska Independence Party Chair John Wayne Howe and Democratic candidate Eric Hafner, a convicted felon who is serving a prison sentence in New York and has never resided in Alaska. Neither Howe nor Hafner reported raising any campaign funds.

Peltola has reported raising nearly $11 million since the beginning of the election cycle and had over $3 million in her campaign account with a month to go before the election.

Begich has raised under $1.8 million total since the beginning of the cycle and had $440,000 to spend at the end of September. Begich continues to carry a $425,000 debt to his campaign from a loan he made to his account.

Elisa Devlin, Peltola’s campaign manager, said the fundraising advantage has been “super consequential,” allowing the campaigns to begin running TV ads two months before Begich was able to.

Begich’s campaign staff did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the fundraising disparity.

Peltola spent more than $2.9 million in August and September, including nearly $1.4 million on media buys and $330,000 on digital advertising. In the same period, Begich reported spending just over $520,000, more than half of which went toward advertisement-related expenses.

Both candidates are also benefiting from hefty spending by political action committees. The National Republican Congressional Committee has committed millions to running attack ads targeting Peltola. Begich is also endorsed by the Congressional Leadership Fund, which works to elect GOP candidates, and by the conservative Club for Growth, which has an affiliated political action committee that raises money for hard-right federal candidates.

On the left, a political action committee called Vote Alaska Before Party reported receiving $4 million in recent months from the House Majority PAC, a pro-Democrat committee, to campaign in favor of Peltola and against Begich.

Jim Lottsfeldt, an Anchorage-based political consultant who works on the Vote Alaska Before Party campaign, said Peltola’s fundraising edge isn’t the only factor to consider when thinking about the outcome of the race.

“It gives her an advantage — for sure — but it’s a federal election, it’s a presidential year, we tend to vote Republican for president. So those numbers may mean, ‘Oh, they’re just equal now,’” said Lottsfeldt. “It’s just not so simple as saying whoever spends the most wins.”