Trump to Alaskans: Democrats will roll back drilling, kill jobs if they win midterms
by Jeff Mordock · The Washington TimesPresident Trump touted energy policy as he traveled to Alaska on Tuesday to rally support for an incumbent Republican in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the upper chamber in nearly 20 years.
Mr. Trump’s rare trip to the Last Frontier underscores Republican concerns that they could lose both the Senate and the House in the November midterms. The president headlined a rally for Sen. Dan Sullivan in Wasilla, the hometown of former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, which sits 45 miles from Anchorage.
Mr. Trump told rallygoers that his administration has aggressively expanded oil and gas development across Alaska, loosened environmental restrictions and encouraged investment in the state.
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He said that his focus on domestic energy production has increased jobs and revenue in the state but warned that it will end if Democrats seize the House and Senate on Nov. 3.
“They will destroy everything we built,” Mr. Trump said. “They will destroy it. They will terminate it. They’ll terminate it, all the jobs, all the oil deals, everything that we’ve made.”
“I’ve done more for this state than any other state in the union, and they’ll repeal it immediately,” he warned.
During the rally, Mr. Trump signed pardons for three truckers convicted of violating the Clean Air Act for fixing the diesel-vehicle emissions control systems on their trucks.
“His fixes violated the Democrats’ green new scam because they don’t want anyone touching the engines,” Mr. Trump said as he brought Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming, two of the co-owners of Arm Rippin Toys, onto the stage.
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“They wanted to put him in jail for 10 years because they fixed an engine. How sick,” Mr. Trump said.
As he signed and then displayed the pardon documents, he said Michael Hanzuk, the company’s third co-owner, would benefit too.
In July, Mr. Trump also pardoned nine people convicted of similar Clean Air Act violations.
The trip is part of a West Coast swing that also includes rallies in Arizona and Montana, two other states Mr. Trump won in 2024 that are having unexpectedly tight races.
Alaska has long been solid GOP territory. A Democrat hasn’t won a Senate seat since 2008; it hasn’t elected a Democratic governor since 1998; and the only time it didn’t back the Republican nominee for president was when President Lyndon Johnson carried it in 1964.
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However, the high cost of living and soaring gasoline prices from the Iran war have made the Senate closer than Mr. Sullivan and the Republicans want.
Mr. Trump’s trade war with Canada has emerged as one of the top issues in the election among Alaskans. Canada is one of Alaska’s largest trading partners, exchanging over $1.3 billion in goods and services.
A survey of 1,200 likely voters on Oct. 9 and 10 showed Mr. Sullivan’s rival, Democrat Mary Peltola with 48.2% of the vote against Mr. Sullivan’s 42.6%. Another poll, conducted Oct. 1 to Oct. 3 by Alaska Survey Research, found Ms. Peltola with 51% and Mr. Sullivan with 49%.
The New York Times/Siena College poll, conducted Sept. 24 through Oct. 1, has Ms. Peltola with a bigger lead, 50% to 43%.
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As Republicans see Alaska slipping away, it has garnered increased attention from the White House. Vice President J.D. Vance traveled to Fairbanks last week to boost support for Mr. Sullivan.
Mr. Sullivan was also heavily featured at the White House earlier this month during an Oval Office ceremony in which Mr. Trump announced a $54 billion investment by South Korea’s government in an Alaska natural gas project.
Mr. Trump won Alaska handily in 2024, but his approval rating has dropped in the state. The most recent data from Civiqs, a polling company, found that 54% of Alaskans disapprove of the president, while 39% approve.
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Jeff Mordock
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