'They're worried': Legendary elections analyst claims Alaska GOP in crisis mode

Renowned political analyst Larry Sabato told MS NOW's Antonia Hylton on Friday that the public could be sleeping on a key Senate race that might help Democrats take the majority: Alaska.

"Larry, do you think that there is a race out there right now that people aren't talking quite enough about?" asked Hylton, noting that plenty of other races, like North Carolina, are attracting massive attention. "Is there another area where they actually may have a shot, and the party or the base just aren't really thinking about it right now?"

"I've had a lot of people say to me, 'Oh, come on, you can't be serious about Alaska, Alaska is not going to go Democratic,'" said Sabato. "Well, normally, of course, it wouldn't go Democratic, and it certainly won't be by a landslide if in fact it does go Democratic."

This time, though, there are a number of factors working in the Democrats' favor.

For one thing, he said, Democrats "have in Mary Peltola a candidate who got elected to the U.S. House of Representatives under their unusual system of election from Alaska. She's already been able to do that."

Making matters more complicated, he noted, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) has to contend with a candidate with the same name running for office on the same ballot. "One of [the Dan Sullivans] has been kind of thrown off, but I think maybe the courts will put him back on."

Regardless, said Sabato, "the Republican incumbent is clearly worried. If he weren't worried, he wouldn't have put so much time and effort along with the party, national and state to debunk this other Dan Sullivan. They're worried about every vote, and they should be."

Above all, he concluded, Sullivan simply hasn't been around long enough in the Senate to build up a reputation the way many of Alaska's other longtime senators managed to.

"They really don't know Sullivan all that well, no matter what he says. So I would continue to watch Alaska."

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