Alaska Senator Spends $25K on DC Dining During Primary Race

Senator Dan Sullivan faces a razor-thin primary race yet continues to pour money into luxury dining and resort stays far from Alaska. The Daily Mail uncovered that this Alaskan lawmaker has spent nearly $35,000 on restaurants outside his home state since March alone. His campaign receipts show a clear preference for Washington DC venues over local options in the Last Frontier.

Sullivan recently forked out more than $13,000 at Lucille's Modern Chophouse before it even opened its doors in October 2024. The establishment is led by Chef Matt Baker, who earned a Michelin star for his former restaurant Gravitas. Sullivan visited Bistro Cacao twenty-one times between January and March of this year, spending $21,500 there. He also made ten trips to the exclusive 116 Club, tallying bills over $12,000 during that same window.

Even Jetties Sandwich Shop saw his hand eight times since March for reasonable subs priced between $13 and $17. The senator utilized Beltway Catering and Taste Gourmet for events, paying roughly $3,700 and $6,600 respectively. In the second fiscal quarter running from April to July, his main campaign spent about $28,000 on food expenses including those lavish events. Alaska received just under $7,000 by comparison, which amounts to only a quarter of the spending elsewhere.

Two political action committees linked to Sullivan, known as Sullivan Victory and True North, have each dumped more than $10,000 into food-related costs since March. The money also fuels high-end getaways like a nearly $30,000 event at The Phoenician resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. That location sits over 3,600 miles away from Anchorage where the average home price hovers just under one million dollars.

Sullivan Victory spent almost $27,500 on that Arizona gathering alone. The senator checks into luxury hotels frequently as he chases a tight general election while his primary opponent struggles to gain ground. This pattern of spending raises questions about whether campaign funds are truly reaching the voters who matter most in Alaska. Critics note that such lavish choices might distract from pressing issues facing rural communities back home.

The father-of-three has visited the 116 Club three times since March for a total of $3,000. His frequent stops at DC favorites suggest an appetite that ignores fiscal caution during a competitive race. FEC filings viewed by the Daily Mail confirm these large expenditures happen even as the restaurant he funded remains closed to the public.

Why does a candidate from Anchorage insist on dining in expensive capitals thousands of miles away? The answer seems lost on someone trying so hard to keep his congressional seat safe. His spending habits create a stark contrast between the struggles of Alaska and the comforts enjoyed by the campaign staff in DC.

Dan Sullivan visited the 116 Club eleven times between January 2025 and March 2026, leaving a bill that exceeded $12,000. He also spent over $6,500 at Bistro Cacao in Washington since last March. That venue is one of his regular stops in the capital city.

The money flows while ordinary people struggle to fill their gas tanks and buy groceries. In Alaska, a gallon of gasoline costs an average of $4.83 as of Thursday, according to AAA. The national average sits just above four dollars per gallon. Food prices at home rose 2.7 percent over the last twelve months nationwide, with fruits and vegetables jumping 5.1 percent. Eating out saw a 3.4 percent increase in costs during that same year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

In Juneau alone, grocery prices sat 28.4 percent above the national average in 2025, the Alaska Beacon noted back in July. Anchorage and Fairbanks hovered around 23 percent higher than the rest of the country during that period. Meanwhile, Sullivan backed President Donald Trump's war in Iran, a conflict critics say pushed gas prices up across the United States.

His political action committee, Sullivan Victory, poured nearly $30,000 into an event held at The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona. That gorgeous resort rests at the foot of the Camelback Mountains and features a three-level pool with private cabanas, an eighteen-hole golf course, pickleball courts, an athletic club, an on-site steakhouse, and private villas. Booking the presidential suite in early October would cost almost $5,000 a night when fees are included. The cheapest room for that time frame ran more than $1,000 with fees, the resort website showed.

Eric Croft, chairman of the Alaska Democratic Party, told the Daily Mail that Dan Sullivan puts himself and his special interest backers ahead of Alaskans. He added that while residents face record-high costs, Self-Serving Sullivan has been winning and dining at luxurious resorts and the ritziest DC steakhouses. Croft said Alaskans deserve better and that they will vote Sullivan out this November now that the truth is out.

Sullivan holds his Senate seat after winning in 2014. His general election takes place on November 3. He faces Democrat Mary Peltola, who came in first during the open primary on Tuesday with nearly 64,000 votes. Sullivan brought in 57,000 votes. The other Republican candidate, Dan J Sullivan, received only 2.4 percent of the vote with 3,200 ballots. Peltola mainly dominated in lower population areas but also took Juneau after getting more than half the vote there. Sullivan pulled ahead in Fairbanks and Anchorage.

Dan J Sullivan accused his opponent Mary Peltola of being a plant candidate designed to confuse voters. Quiver Quantitative estimates Sullivan's net worth at $8.5 million. His 2025 Senate Financial Disclosure, viewed by the Daily Mail, shows he and his family hold at least $4 million in publicly available assets. He did not disclose any earned income on that form but receives at least $174,000 from his congressional salary.

Alaska has open primaries where the top four candidates regardless of party move forward to November. Peltola's biggest threat remains Mary Peltola for a seat in the Senate this year. The Daily Mail has reached out to Sullivan's campaign for comment.