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Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom announced Tuesday that she is running for Congress, taking on Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola in a top GOP pickup opportunity.
Peltola, the first Alaska native to serve in Congress, is one of five Democrats up for re-election in seats that President Donald Trump carried in 2020. Peltola represents the entire state in the House, which Trump won by 10 percentage points.
Dahlstrom did not name-check Peltola in her announcement, but she did reference President Joe Biden.
"Alaska needs a proven tough fighter to stop the assault on Alaska from Joe Biden and the Washington D.C. liberals," Dahlstrom said in a statement.
Peltola won a special election last year in the state's first test of a new ranked-choice voting system, defeating two other Republicans, including former Gov. Sarah Palin and Nick Begich, who is from a well-known political family in the state. Peltola also defeated Palin and Begich again in November in the race for a full term.
Begich launched another run for Congress in July.
But some national Republicans involved in House races cheered Dahlstrom's announcement. Dan Conston, president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main House GOP super PAC, lauded Dahlstrom's campaign as a "recruiting coup" for the National Republican Congressional Committee and a "game changer."
