Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan’s Stock Trading Raises Questions
Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan has engaged in stock trading activities worth up to $2 million during his Senate tenure, a fact that might explain his resistance to bipartisan initiatives aimed at prohibiting stock trading by Congressional members.
Sullivan, who is eyeing a third Senate term, could face Democratic contender Mary Peltola this election season. The STOCK Act of 2012 permits lawmakers to trade stocks, but mandates that all transactions be publicly disclosed and that legislators adhere to insider trading laws.
Sullivan’s financial disclosures from 2015 to 2024 reveal approximately 80 stock trades, valued between $550,000 and $2.08 million, marking him as the sole federal official from Alaska to report such transactions during this timeframe.
According to Quiver Quantitative, a platform monitoring Congressional trading and wealth, Sullivan’s net worth has surged from $3 million in 2015 to $8.29 million, reflecting a 176% increase. His investment portfolio has consistently surpassed market averages, with a 47.5% gain in 2024 compared to the S&P’s 24.9% rise, and a 60.5% increase in 2023 against the S&P’s 26.29% growth.
The issue of Congressional stock trading has gained traction, especially amid concerns about inflation and wealth disparity. Since 2018, multiple Senate resolutions have been introduced to curb this practice, mostly receiving bipartisan backing. However, Sullivan has neither supported nor endorsed these proposed measures, and none have been enacted into law.
Mary Peltola, who served in the House from 2022 to 2025, voiced her concerns in a recent interview with Alaska Public Media, asserting that Congressional stock trading fosters corruption. “I thought that there were protections that prevented self-dealing and self-enriching,” Peltola remarked. “I was quite surprised to find out that it was even a discussion whether it should be done, and that there was a move afoot to prohibit that legislation from going forward to ban stock trading.”
Peltola has publicly supported a ban on such trading practices.
From 2018 to 2022, Sullivan breached the STOCK Act on at least three occasions by failing to report trades within the prescribed 45-day period. Notably, two transactions involved RPM International, managed by Sullivan’s brother, Frank Sullivan. The senator corrected these reporting oversights but did not face legal repercussions.
Alaska hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since 2008, but Peltola’s campaign recently revealed a record-breaking fundraising achievement, amassing $8.9 million in early 2026, the highest in the state’s Senate race history.
