About $800,000 has been spent in the last few weeks by the super PAC Fair Deal Alaska to not only attack the leading Democratic candidate, Mary Peltola, but also boost two lesser-known hopefuls, the Green Party candidate Richard Grayson (who lives in Arizona) and Carol Hafner, another Democrat who could pull votes away from Ms. Peltola. That could benefit the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan Sullivan. Fair Deal Alaska formed just late last month, meaning its donors have not yet been disclosed.
Today, Wednessday, August 19, 2026, the Anchorage Daily News published an article by Alex DeMarban, " In Alaska's hotly contested U.S. Senate race, challenger Mary Peltola jumps to early lead," about the election results, mentioning Richard Grayson's candidacy:
The race has been marked by fringe candidates who have gotten a boost with help from shadowy political action committees.
Peltola's recently campaign committee launched a website — theyarenotfromhere.com — arguing that national Republicans were spending big to promote spoiler candidates.
Fair Deal Alaska, which formed late last month, spent more than $800,000 promoting Carol Hafner, a Democrat, and Richard Grayson, a Green Party member, in an effort to weaken support for Peltola. Both Hafner and Grayson live in the Lower 48 and have run for office in other states.
Together, they'd received less than 1% of the vote early Wednesday.
The Outside-driven spending appears to have had little impact. For example, Green Party candidate Richard Grayson—boosted by a conservative group trying to paint Peltola as too friendly with Trump— finished second to last in the 16-way race with just 328 votes.
Green Party Senate candidate Richard Grayson knows flyers with his name and face are clogging mailboxes around Alaska. But he doesn’t get them. He lives in Arizona.
A retired law school administrator, Grayson has run for office a lot, all over the country, with no expectation of winning.
“Egotism. I don't know. Curiosity,” he said, when asked why. “If you look me up, you see I've been doing this since 1979.”
He isn’t in Alaska to campaign and has raised no money. A group called Fair Deal Alaska has spent about $800,000 to help him and another non-Alaskan perennial candidate, Democrat Carol Hafner, with direct mail and text messages.
Fair Deal even has video ads promoting him on social media.
“It was an ego trip to see an actual, like, commercial,” Grayson said.
Grayson, though, is aware he’s a pawn in someone else’s false-flag operation.
Money is pouring into Alaska’s U.S. Senate race as the Aug. 18 primary nears.
...
As for Grayson, the Green Party candidate in Arizona, he doesn’t think he’ll finish in the top four of the primary, even with all the promotion.
And if he does advance to the general election? He said he’d do what he could to help Peltola, because he wants her to win.
“If I were on the (November) ballot, I would just tell people — and have her tell people —I support her,” Grayson said. “Don't vote for me.”
No matter how many — or few — votes Grayson gets, Alaskans will probably see his name on future ballots. He said he likes how easy the state makes it to become a candidate.
“You don't need any signatures,” he said. “You just have to give them a $100 check.”
Fair Deal Alaska, which formed late last month, has already spent nearly $770,000, primarily supporting Carol Hafner and Richard Grayson, who could draw votes away from Peltola.
Both Hafner, a Democrat, and Grayson, a Green Party member, live in the Lower 48 and have run for office in other states.
In an interview Wednesday, Grayson called the spending a "revolting" development that makes him "uncomfortable and angry." He said he is running for office "for fun" and he supports Peltola's candidacy.
A candidate who finishes among the top four in the primary can withdraw from the general election, potentially allowing the fifth-place finisher to advance.
That is exactly what Grayson intends to do, he said Wednesday from his home in Arizona.
"I won't be on the ballot in Alaska because if I do finish at the top four, I'll just do what Nancy Dahlstrom and Matthew Salisbury did in the House race two years ago," said Grayson, referring to the 2024 U.S. House race, when the third- and fourth-place finishers dropped out of the race amid pressure from the Alaska Republican Party, elevating the fifth- and sixth-place finishers onto the general election ballot.
"You just withdraw. That's why I don't understand this now," said Grayson.
According to Capitol Hill Access and our own somewhat suspect mathematical skills the shady, presumably right-wing Republican super PAC Fair Deal Alaska has spent $313,431 $330,474 $343,384 on the Alaska U.S. Senate campaign of Green Party candidate Richard Grayson.
Update, Friday, August 14, 2026: More recent spending on Grayson's campaign:
