Sullivan faces Peltola in a primary where the top issues are data centers, cryptocurrency, and tax revisions. Three things Alaskans famously wake up thinking about every morning.
Data centers rank just below "things to do with all this salmon" and slightly above "how cold will it get this year" on the list of pressing Alaskan concerns. Nothing says frontier independence like worrying whether Amazon has enough server space in Anchorage.
Crypto made the list because apparently someone in Alaska bought Bitcoin in 2021 and won't shut up about it at town halls. That guy now gets to decide Senate races. Democracy works.
Tax revisions completed the trifecta of electoral excitement. Voters will decide between a Republican incumbent and a former Democratic congresswoman based on their passionate feelings about adjusted gross income calculations. Thrilling stuff. Real edge-of-your-seat campaign messaging.
Peltola already served in Congress. Sullivan's been in the Senate since 2015. Both of them know exactly what they're doing. Both of them looked at this primary and said yes, let's make it about data centers. Not healthcare. Not oil revenue. Not fishing rights. Server farms.
The crypto angle is perfect because nothing screams "I understand Alaska" like championing digital tokens that exist nowhere and produce nothing. Really connects with the guy pulling crab pots at 4 AM. He definitely gives a sh*t about blockchain.
This primary will be decided by twelve people who actually know what a data center does and forty thousand people who think crypto is something their nephew won't stop talking about on Facebook. The remaining voters will choose based on whose campaign sign looked less faded on the highway.
Sullivan's going to win or lose based on whether Alaskans believe he cares enough about electricity bills for computers he'll never see.
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