US Senate toss‑up races draw intense scrutiny ahead of midterms

Voters in several key US states will decide whether Democrats can wrest control of the Senate from the Republican‑led Congress in the upcoming midterm election.

Alaska race hinges on ballot confusion

In Alaska, incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan faces former House member Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native elected to Congress. Sullivan alleges that a second candidate named Dan Sullivan was placed on the ballot to confuse Republican voters, a claim Peltola denies. The dispute is under state investigation and a Justice Department lawsuit was dismissed by a judge on Sunday. Alaska’s ranked‑choice voting system adds further uncertainty, and past polls have tended to under‑represent Republican support.

Sullivan, 61, retired from the US Marines in 2024 after a 30‑year career that included deployments to Afghanistan and the Middle East. Peltola, 53, grew up fishing salmon and ran on a platform of “fish, family, freedom,” attacking Sullivan’s record as the state’s natural resources commissioner.

In Maine, centrist Republican Senator Susan Collins, 73, seeks a sixth term against former state senate president Troy Jackson, 58, a logger who opposes US tariffs on Canada and calls for the abolition of ICE. Collins, one of the few Republicans to vote for Trump’s conviction in the 2021 impeachment, hopes her moderate reputation will attract independent voters in a state that leans Democratic in presidential elections.

These contests are among the seven Senate races labelled toss‑ups by the Cook Political Report, with billions of dollars being spent as both parties aim to secure the decisive upper chamber.

Source: BBC News. Photo: Sora Shimazaki / Pexels.