Personal attacks as Sullivan, Peltola clash over corruption, character and controversy.

In their final fiery debate in the Alaska Senate, Dan Sullivan and Mary Pletola launched blistering attacks on corruption, staffing allegations and military spending.

Mary Peltola was investigated following allegations of staffing in the Alaska Senate election

Midterm battles intensify as a political panel debates the competitive Alaska Senate race and energy affordability. Democratic Strategist Melissa Droza and CRC Advisors Senior Vice President Matt Whitlock discuss the allegations against Mary Pletola as she challenges incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and former U.S. Rep. Mary Pletola squared off Thursday night in the final Senate election debate that surprised some political observers at how close it was.

Sullivan and Peltola clashed over energy costs, the Iran war, Social Security reform, health care policy, military spending, allegations of misconduct and fishing, among other issues, but a handful of exchanges stood out.

Despite the intervention of the far left, the Republican senator, the representative of the House of Representatives emerged from the "primitive forest" of Alaska

During the debate, Pletola attacked Sullivan for being a DC insider and using his position to enrich himself and his allies. Sullivan tried to refute the claims by pointing to Pletola's extensive lobbying activity after his presidency and accused him of making money through influence peddling.

"My opponent is talking about corporate greed again; he's defining the rigged system in DC," Sullivan said. "There's nothing more fraudulent than getting a member of Congress fired and then immediately going through the revolving door to cash in. He made almost half a million last year as a DC. Lobbyist selling his knowledge of DC. He did that when he left the state legislature. He started a lobbying firm."

"You go through the revolving door so much, you're bound to end up here," he quipped.

Pletola responded by saying that his lobbying work has benefited Alaskans and pointed out how Sullivan has become richer since coming to Washington.

Dan has been in DC for 12 years and has gotten richer each year. This is the corruption that Alaskans are truly suffering from, and this is the corruption that I will fight. Dan went to DC with $3 million. He currently has $8 million.

After Pletola responded to a question about how he would work to improve Alaska's affordability if elected to the Senate while appearing to read from paper, Sullivan questioned whether he had received a copy of the debate questions in advance.

"It's a moderator question, we weren't supposed to get these questions in advance, were we?" Sullivan asked.

"None of you had any questions beforehand," said the other host. "Certainly not."

Carville mocks Democratic candidate's staff for complaining about New York Times treatment as "weak" and "soft."

Representative Mary Peltola speaks at the Congressional Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington, DC on December 3, 2024. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu)

"I just see my opponent reading questions that seem to have been answered," the senator said.

After Sullivan filed a New York Times report airing anonymous staff complaints alleging Peltola physically and verbally abused his staff, the Democrat attacked the incumbent senator, prompting observers to intervene.

"Look, my opponent has been lying this entire campaign and revealing personality challenges. But it's not just lies. Look at how he treats Alaskans when the cameras are off," Sullivan said. "Look at the New York Times story. He's treating young Alaskans horribly. 25 employees fired Mary Pelton because she physically and emotionally abused them, and then she slandered all the other groups — African-Americans, people with special needs. That's a character flaw in my opponent."

Sullivan's comments prompted Peltola to attempt to cut him off, calling the reports "rumors" and "baseless."

After Pletola began interrupting Sullivan, who was way past his allotted time, one of the hosts said, “Let's have some decorum here.

Although Peltola's campaign denied several allegations, including allegations that he used slurs and fired a young employee, his spokesman said some of his behavior occurred during a period of intense grief following the deaths of his mother and wife in 2023.

The Democratic Senate hopeful picked up hundreds of lost votes while stalling on multiple taxpayer jobs

Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, stands on the Senate floor of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 2026. (Daniel Hoyer/Bloomberg)

Another heated moment came after Sullivan accused Pletola of withholding pay for members of the armed forces over access to transgender medical procedures.

"My opponent voted against our military, voted against our soldiers' pay raises because he wanted more transgender surgeries for our soldiers. I mean, that's an outrage," the senator said.

"I have to turn it down, it's absurd," Peltola interjected.

"Yes. I think Alaskans have been exposed to lies and dishonesty so far. Dan, you should be ashamed of yourself for promoting these lies," the Democrat replied. "The first time I voted on the NDAA, there was trick language in there that if our troops weren't deployed in a state that didn't provide reproductive health care to women, they would be denied access to the health care they needed. I wouldn't do that to our troops. But I've voted strongly in support of our troops three more times."

At the end of the debate, each candidate was asked to say one good thing about their opponent.

"Well, my wife invited Mary to attend my Marine Corps retirement after 30 years, and they honored me, but they honored my wife and daughters more than anyone else at my retirement ... and Mary Pletola attended, so I thank her for that," Sullivan said.

"Yeah, it was a lovely, lovely service. And I was very proud to be there. And one, you know, three wonderful things about Dan and their lovely Julie. So girls, those are the three lovely things I can say about Dan and Julie." Peltula said.