SOUND THE ALARM: Sullivan Celebrates July 4th with … the Confederate Flag?

In case you missed it, on July 4th Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan gave a speech next to a confederate flag. Sullivan’s campaign attempted to paper over the incident by calling the event “educational,” and conspicuously omitting photos where the flag was visible in a campaign post. 

Read coverage from MS NOW here.

GOP senator recites Declaration of Independence — next to a Confederate flag, MS NOW
By Kevin Frey, 07/20/26

When Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, took the stage during the recent July Fourth weekend to recite the Declaration of Independence, there was one notable image just steps away: the Confederate battle flag.

Sullivan’s Senate campaign posted pictures on Facebook from the “America Comes Alive” event, which took place on July 5 at Mountain City Church in Anchorage. But his team omitted sharing any images featuring the flag. 

A video of Sullivan’s remarks, obtained by MS NOW, shows he spoke glowingly about the Declaration of Independence and some of the “core ideas” in the document — including that we are all “created equal” and that everyone is guaranteed the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 

But as he spoke about the Declaration of Independence and recited the Founding Fathers’ words, Sullivan was just a few feet away from an image that has come to represent racism, oppression and white supremacy.

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(Alaska, of course, was not part of the United States — let alone the Confederacy — during the Civil War. The U.S. purchased the Alaskan territory from Russia in 1867, and Alaska only became a state in 1959.)

Sullivan first joined the Senate in 2015. He is expected to face off against Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, in this fall’s midterm elections. 

The race could be critical for Democrats as they seek to flip control of the chamber. While MS NOW still rates this race as “lean Republican,” earlier this month, Cook Political Report updated its rating of the race, moving it to “toss up.”

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