What to watch in the Alaska and Wyoming primaries | US Midterm Elections 2026 News

Primary elections across the country have offered an early read on where voters want their parties to go ahead of the ensuing November US midterm elections.

With only a handful of US states remaining on the congressional primary calendar, voters in Alaska and Wyoming – two reliable Republican strongholds – will go to the polls on Tuesday, with races that could have repercussions far beyond their small electorates.

Although the state has long been safe Republican territory in federal elections, this year marks the third consecutive election cycle in which Alaska is among a handful of states at the center of the fight for control of Congress.

Wyoming offers a different kind of race: a rare widespread rotation of Republican leadership. Wyomingites have a glut of new leaders to choose from in the House of Representatives, the governor’s mansion and the U.S. Capitol. Races that could further consolidate the state’s ultraconservative politics or begin to push it toward the center.

This is what’s on our radar.

Alaska

When do the polls open and close?

Polls open at 7 am (15:00 GMT) and close at 8 pm local time (04:00 GMT Wednesday), although Alaska’s two time zones stagger the closing of polls across the state.

What makes the Alaska primary different?

Unlike most states, Alaska uses a single primary rather than separate Republican and Democratic contests. This comes after Alaska voters passed Ballot Measure 2 in 2020, which effectively eliminated the state’s traditional partisan primary system for most offices. Instead, all candidates appear on a single, nonpartisan primary ballot. The four with the most votes will advance.

What are the key careers to pursue in Alaska?

The U.S. Senate race carries the clearest national risks because it could tilt control of the chamber. The governor’s race is worth pursuing because of its exceptionally crowded and competitive field.

Seventeen candidates are running to replace Alaska’s staunchly pro-Trump Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is prohibited by term limits from seeking a third term. Among them is former Gov. Bill Walker, who is running as an independent. Republican candidates include former state senators Click Bishop, Shelley Hughes and Lesil McGuire, former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson, former state Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum, Matanuska-Susitna County Mayor Edna DeVries, former state Attorney General Treg Taylor and business owner and conservative activist Bernadette Wilson.

Former state Sen. Tom Begich and former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins are the two Democrats in the race.

Meanwhile, sixteen candidates are running for Alaska’s U.S. Senate seat, but the race has two frontrunners: incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola. The Cook Political Report ranks the race among the most competitive Senate races in the country.

Why the Senate race matters nationally

Although Alaska has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 2008, former Rep. Peltola, who represented Alaska in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2022 to 2025, showed that a Democrat can win there statewide.

The race has attracted millions in campaign spending, including money spent to elevate political unknowns who are unlikely to win the seat but could materially alter the November results.

Super PACs have spent more than $2 million trying to boost candidates who are not considered serious contenders for the seat, according to Alaska Public Media.

An Alaska Survey Research poll conducted in March found Peltola ahead of Sullivan among primary voters, 46.4 percent to 40.9 percent. In a simulated general election matchup using Alaska’s ranked-choice system, Peltola also scored ahead of Sullivan.

A tale of two Dan Sullivan

There’s an unusual subplot in the Senate: two Republicans named Dan Sullivan are on the ballot. One is the sitting senator; the other, Dan J Sullivan Jr, is a retired professor from Petersburg. The state Division of Elections initially removed him from the ballot after determining that his candidacy appeared intended to confuse voters, but the Alaska Supreme Court later ordered officials to restore him to the primary ballot.

That creates a problem that is particularly acute in the Alaska primary. Unlike the November election, the primaries are not ranked-choice: voters select a single candidate and the four vote-getters prevail in the general election. With two Dan Sullivans competing for the same electoral position, even a relatively small number of wrong votes could influence which candidate clears the hurdle.

Senator Sullivan will appear on the ballot as “Dan S. Sullivan” along with the labels “registered Republican” and “incumbent.” Challenger Sullivan will appear as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” with no party affiliation listed, although he ran for office as a Republican.

On Israel, Sullivan and Peltola find common ground

Much of the attention around incumbent Dan Sullivan’s fundraising reflects the themes that have defined his Senate career, including his strong support for Israel and his aggressive approach toward Iran.

The 61-year-old has repeatedly supported military aid and closer defense ties between the United States and Israel, while vehemently opposing efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute Israeli officials. His record in Congress includes repeated efforts to maintain or strengthen sanctions on Iran.

Sullivan’s re-election campaign has attracted substantial support from high-profile political organizations, including the Republican Senate Leadership Fund, which has committed at least $15 million to his campaign. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) also helped funnel around $250,000 in individual contributions to Sullivan during the first quarter of 2026.

Peltola has also championed Israel-related legislation during his tenure in the House, at times even breaking with his fellow Democrats on Israel-related votes. The Democratic Jewish Council of America, which describes itself as an advocate for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, endorsed his Senate campaign in March.

Wyoming

When do polls open and close in Wyoming?

Voting begins at 7:00 local time (13:00 GMT) and ends at 19:00 local time (01:00 GMT the next day).

What’s a great race to watch?

The Republican Senate primaries.

In deep red Wyoming, the Senate primary is less a contest about whether the GOP will hold the seat than about which Republican candidate will win it.

The Cowboy State has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1964, with the exception of 1976, when Jimmy Carter won Wyoming. The Senate race is also interesting because it is a fight for the succession of open seats.

What are the important races in the Wyoming primary elections?

The least populated state in the United States faces a political transformation, with restructuring at almost every level. With incumbent Sen. Cynthia Lummis declining to seek re-election and Rep. Harriet Hageman resigning from her House seat to try to succeed her in the Senate, Wyoming is poised for an unusually extensive shakeup of elected officials.

The Wyoming Republican Party is divided between a far-right bloc that already controls the state House and more traditional conservatives who retain greater influence in the Senate.

Hageman, the hardline Trump-backed congresswoman who rose to national prominence after unseating Liz Cheney in the 2022 Republican primary, is the clear favorite to succeed outgoing Sen. Cynthia Lummis. Among the other Republicans running to replace Lummis in the U.S. Senate are former Kirby Mayor Sam Mead and former environmental services company owner Jimmy Skovgard.

In an April interview with Jackson Hole Community Radio (KHOL), Mead said the endorsement Hageman received from Trump, Lummis and Barrasso comes with the expectation that she will support the administration “no matter what.” While Mead has promised to respond to Trump on public lands, tariffs and foreign wars when he believes the administration’s policies go against Wyoming’s interests.

Nine active candidates are vying for the Republican nomination to replace Hageman in the U.S. House of Representatives in what is shaping up to be the most expensive race of Tuesday’s vote. The field includes former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, state Senate President Bo Biteman, businessmen Steve Friess and Reid Rasner, and Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray.