Election 2026
Independent, source-first accountability
Issue record
In short
No position was found for Heikes. Peltola's campaign cites her House bill giving domestic violence survivors free legal help; Dan Sullivan's says his POWER Act gave survivors legal help; Daniel Sullivan Jr.'s lists none on the pages checked. On the record, Peltola's House bill never moved, but its key text matches the 2022 law she led in the House. Dan Sullivan sponsored it and the 2018 POWER Act; how many they helped is not shown.
Campaign positions
No position was found. The Division of Elections candidate list gives only his name, party registration, address and telephone number; he filed no statement for the official election pamphlet, the list names no website or email for him, and the Federal Election Commission shows no campaign committee for him this cycle. He did not answer the 2026 voter guides of four Alaska newsrooms or iVoterGuide.
Her campaign lists among her record the House bill she sponsored to provide pro bono legal services to survivors of domestic violence.
His campaign says his POWER Act has given survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault access to legal services, and his pamphlet statement lists expanding free legal services to survivors.
No position on domestic violence or legal help for survivors was found in his campaign site as read on September 23, 2026 (home page, two press releases and six posts, including his answers to two voter-guide questionnaires) and his election pamphlet statement.
Evidence timeline
official action
Her House bill never moved. The Senate bill with the same key text had passed the Senate before she filed hers; she led it in the House and voted for it, and it became law in December 2022.
Her campaign lists among her record that she sponsored House legislation giving survivors of domestic violence pro bono legal services, which later became law through an identical Senate companion bill. She introduced H.R. 9113, the POWER 2.0 Act, on September 30, 2022; it was referred to a House Judiciary subcommittee and went no further. Its operative section is word for word the section of the Senate bill that became law: both strike “for a period of 4 years” from section 3(a) of the 2018 POWER Act, so that its pro bono program no longer expires. That Senate bill, S. 3115, was sponsored by Dan S. Sullivan, introduced on October 28, 2021 and passed by the Senate on August 6, 2022, before her House bill existed. In the House debate, Representative Jerrold Nadler thanked her “for leading the House version” and called her “the House sponsor of the bill”. The House passed S. 3115 on December 1, 2022, 406 to 14, with her vote (roll call 499), and it became Public Law 117-252 on December 20, 2022. Limit: Her campaign's sentence is accurate. The Senate bill, sponsored by Dan S. Sullivan, came first and had passed the Senate eight weeks before she filed hers. In the House she was named its sponsor, spoke for it and voted for it. Both candidates claim this law; each claim has its own card.
official action
He sponsored the 2018 POWER Act and the 2022 follow-up, both now law; no official source this desk read counts how many survivors got legal help through them.
His campaign biography says his POWER Act has enabled thousands of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to reach legal services. He sponsored the POWER Act, S. 717, introduced March 23, 2017; it became Public Law 115-237 on September 4, 2018, with its pro bono program set to run for four years. He then sponsored S. 3115, the POWER 2.0 Act, introduced October 28, 2021, which removes that limit by striking “for a period of 4 years”; the Senate passed it on August 6, 2022 and it became Public Law 117-252 on December 20, 2022. Mary Peltola introduced a House bill with the same operative text, H.R. 9113, on September 30, 2022; that bill was not acted on, and the enacted law is his Senate bill. Limit: Both laws are his by sponsorship, which is what “his” claims. How many survivors have reached legal help because of them is not reported by the laws or by any official source this desk read, so “thousands” is not settled either way. Both candidates in this race claim the 2022 law, and each claim is shown on its own card.
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Alaska Division of Elections · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
The Division's list of certified candidates for the November 3, 2026 general election, read September 23, 2026. It lists four candidates for U.S. Senator, alphabetically: Heikes, Gerald L. (Registered Republican); Peltola, Mary (Registered Democrat); Sullivan, Dan S. (Registered Republican, incumbent); Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr. (Registered Republican). For Gerald L. Heikes it gives an address and telephone number only: no website, email or pamphlet statement.
official election record
For: Gerald L. Heikes: campaign position
Federal Election Commission · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
The FEC's candidate record for him, read September 23, 2026: no principal campaign committee and no financial report for the 2026 cycle.
fec filing
For: Gerald L. Heikes: campaign position
KTOO, Alaska Beacon, Alaska Public Media and Anchorage Daily News · Reviewed Sep 24, 2026
The four newsrooms' joint guide for the August 18, 2026 primary. On the U.S. Senate tab, each of his answers reads “We made several attempts to contact the candidate, but the candidate did not respond,” except his hometown, which the guide took from the Division. Read September 24, 2026 through the data the page loads from app.electup.com. The Alaska Beacon's own copy returned 403 and was not tried further.
original reporting
For: Gerald L. Heikes: campaign position
iVoterGuide · Reviewed Sep 24, 2026
A voter-guide site's profile of him for the 2026 Senate race. Every questionnaire item is marked “Did not answer” and every biography field “Candidate did not provide”. Read September 24, 2026.
original reporting
For: Gerald L. Heikes: campaign position
Alaskans for Mary · Published Aug 16, 2026 · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Campaign release of August 16, 2026 listing what it calls her policy wins; the source of most of her record claims on this desk. Campaign-controlled source; claims are attributed, not independently verified. Her filed website, confirmed by its line “Paid for by Alaskans for Mary”. The whole site was read through its public content feed on September 23, 2026: 29 pages and 64 posts. Links in two posts that run through an email-tracking service carrying a subscriber identifier were deliberately not followed.
candidate statement
For: Mary Peltola: campaign position; Mary Peltola: Matches stated record claim
Alaskans for Dan Sullivan · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Campaign biography page, dated May 5, 2026 in the site's own feed. Campaign-controlled source; claims are attributed, not independently verified. The committee's filed website is WWW.DANSULLIVANFORALASKA.COM; the www host fails a secure connection, so the site was read at the bare domain, confirmed by its line "Paid for by Alaskans for Dan Sullivan". The whole site was read through its public content feed on September 23, 2026: nine pages and 33 posts, and no issues page.
candidate statement
For: Dan S. Sullivan: campaign position; Dan S. Sullivan: Matches stated record claim
Alaska Division of Elections · Reviewed Sep 24, 2026
Candidate-written and candidate-paid statement published by the Division, which says the views are the candidate's and not endorsed by it. A PDF, saved and hashed in the research folder; the seafood sentence the desk quotes is checked against the Division's copy.
candidate statement
For: Dan S. Sullivan: campaign position
Daniel J. Sullivan for US Senate · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Campaign-controlled source; positions are attributed, not independently verified. Confirmed as his by the footer “Paid for by Daniel J. Sullivan for US Senate P.O. Box 1656, Petersburg, Alaska 99833”. The research agent's network could not reach the site (a failed secure connection, and a network security filter on the plain address), and the filter was not bypassed; the site was read in full on September 23, 2026 in the owner's own browser: home, press (two releases), links, and six posts found through its sitemap. The owner's browser saved the pages' text on September 23, 2026, and the desk's quotations are checked against that saved copy.
candidate statement
For: Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.: campaign position
Alaska Division of Elections · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Candidate-written and candidate-paid statement published by the Division: retired elementary school teacher, Petersburg since May 1980, work for the U.S. Forest Service and in logging and construction, and a pledge to stand for fair elections and equal access to the ballot. A PDF, saved and hashed in the research folder; not quoted directly.
candidate statement
For: Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.: campaign position
Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Sponsored by Mary Peltola, introduced September 30, 2022; referred to a House Judiciary subcommittee, where it stopped. Its introduced text, read from GovInfo, has the same operative section as S. 3115.
official legislative record
For: Mary Peltola: Matches stated record claim; Dan S. Sullivan: Matches stated record claim
Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Sponsored by Dan S. Sullivan, introduced October 28, 2021; passed the Senate August 6, 2022 and the House December 1, 2022; became Public Law 117-252 on December 20, 2022.
official legislative record
For: Mary Peltola: Matches stated record claim; Dan S. Sullivan: Matches stated record claim
U.S. Government Publishing Office · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Enacted text. Its only operative section strikes “for a period of 4 years” from section 3(a) of the 2018 Act; its legislative history names S. 3115.
official legislative record
For: Mary Peltola: Matches stated record claim; Dan S. Sullivan: Matches stated record claim
U.S. Government Publishing Office · Published Nov 29, 2022 · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Pages H8622 to H8625. Representative Nadler thanks her for leading the House version and yields to her as the House sponsor; she speaks on S. 3115 as the Senate companion to her H.R. 9113.
official legislative record
For: Mary Peltola: Matches stated record claim
Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
December 1, 2022, on the motion to suspend the rules and pass S. 3115, the POWER 2.0 Act: 406 to 14. Her position read from the Clerk's roll-call XML by member identifier P000619: Yea.
official legislative record
For: Mary Peltola: Matches stated record claim
Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Sponsored by Dan S. Sullivan, introduced March 23, 2017; became Public Law 115-237 on September 4, 2018.
official legislative record
For: Dan S. Sullivan: Matches stated record claim