JUNEAU, Alaska \u2013 One of the most biting insults in Alaska politics is to be accused of being aligned with the \u201cLower 48,” code for candidates taking marching orders from powerful forces in the contiguous United States rather than sticking up for Alaskans.<\/p>\n
It’s a central theme of the Alaska’s U.S. Senate race<\/a>, one of a handful expected to determine control of the chamber in the November elections.<\/p>\n Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan’s campaign has made it a key attack line against Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman. He lumps her in with \u201cLower 48 liberals\u201d who have opposed expanded oil and gas drilling in a state that has relied heavily on that industry for decades.<\/p>\n Peltola, an Alaska Native, has countered that she \u201ctook on\u201d then-President<\/a> Joe Biden, a fellow Democrat, to help win approval in 2023 of the huge Willow oil project, which environmentalists strongly opposed<\/a>. She also says she will \u201ctake on anyone, including Democrats \u2014 anyone in the Lower 48 who doesn\u2019t understand what Alaska needs.\u201d<\/p>\n The pejorative label reflects a mystique about Alaska, which outsiders often refer to as \u201cThe Last Frontier.” A state for less than 70 years, Alaska is renowned for its natural beauty, wildlife and vast landscapes. Its rural nature \u2014 isolated from the rest of the country and with many of its communities accessible only by air or water \u2014 breeds a self-reliance. It’s a place where many residents hunt and fish to fill their freezers for winter and take pride in their independence.<\/p>\n The two major Senate campaigns and some third-party groups have leaned into that sentiment \u2014 that Alaska is different \u2014 and cast their candidates as authentic voices for Alaskans.<\/p>\n \u201cWe love the persona Alaska is a tough place to live,” said Republican Andrew Halcro, a political podcast host and former state lawmaker who has lived in the state nearly all his life.<\/p>\n Abundance of oil and other resources has created friction with federal government<\/p>\n Alaska, rich in natural resources, has long had a love-hate relationship with the federal government, which owns about 60% of the state’s land. That relationship has been especially strained under Democratic presidential administrations that have sought to restrict logging, mining and the availability of areas for oil and gas development over environmental concerns.<\/p>\n Policies can shift<\/a> dramatically from one administration to the next. <\/p>\n The Democratic Obama and Biden administrations banned leasing on roughly half the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which is home to wildlife such as caribou and polar bears and provides habitat for millions of migrating birds. Republican President Donald Trump’s administration has rolled back those and other restrictions as part of a broader push<\/a> for expanded oil and gas development in Alaska. The administration also is supporting lease sales<\/a> in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. <\/p>\n The state also has bristled at Democratic efforts to stifle road building and logging<\/a> in areas such as the Tongass National Forest, a temperate rainforest in southeast Alaska. That dispute dates to the Clinton administration.<\/p>\n Alaska’s share of royalty revenue from oil and minerals on federal land has been another ongoing source of tension. Some lawmakers say the state was promised a larger share at statehood and that the federal government has failed to uphold<\/a> its end of the deal.<\/p>\n While oil production is a fraction of what it was at its peak in the late 1980s and has fallen in recent years, political leaders have pointed to signs of a turnaround. They cite in part the strong interest from major companies that snatched up leases<\/a> in a sale earlier this year for the petroleum reserve, home to the Willow project.<\/p>\n Alaska communities have been hit hard by spikes in fuel prices caused by the Iran war. That is especially true for remote communities that must have their fuel flown in or delivered by barge before the rivers ice over. <\/p>\n Oil development is the top issue in this year’s election for Darryl Hugo, who lives in the small North Slope community of Anaktuvuk Pass. He is backing Sullivan and notes that revenue from oil development is largely responsible for his town’s health clinic, school, police and fire departments and water system.<\/p>\n \u201cMy region\u2019s economy depends on oil,\u201d he said via a messaging app.<\/p>\n Candidates are seen as trying to stake claim as ‘the real spokesperson for the real Alaska\u2019<\/p>\n Robert Sewell, an independent from the Juneau area, said he sees the \u201cLower 48\u201d taunts and Peltola trying to distance herself from national Democrats as examples of the candidates \u201cfighting to establish who is the real spokesperson for the real Alaska.\u201d<\/p>\n He also likens it a bit to the schoolyard jeer, \u201cI know you are, but what am I?\u201d<\/p>\n