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 The primary contest pits two former colleagues from Alaska's
executive branch, Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell and ex-Natural
Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan, and the Tea Party's Joe Miller
against one another to decide who challenges Senator Mark Begich in
November's general election.
All three are trying to position themselves as uniquely qualified to
unseat the incumbent, who faces only a token, write-in opponent from
New York in the Democratic primary.
Republicans need a net gain of six seats in the fall to retake a
majority in the Senate.
The high stakes have fueled a highly charged Republican contest,
with campaign ads flooding the airwaves, websites and social media
across this typically red state.
Republicans have long believed the seat belongs to them, especially
since Begich claimed a narrow 2008 win a few weeks after a jury
convicted former Senator Ted Stevens on federal corruption charges.
That conviction was set aside before sentencing amid prosecutorial
misconduct.
 Sullivan is favorite in the polls, which have proven misleading in
recent Alaska races. Still, he has raised more than $4 million,
twice the amount of his two opponents combined, since launching his
candidacy last fall.
Sullivan, who served as a U.S. Marine in Afghanistan and also as
state attorney general under Governor Sean Parnell from 2009 to
2010, says he is taking nothing for granted.
He has been waging a simultaneous campaign against his primary
opponents while trading punches with Begich in opposing television
attack ads.
'SNOWBALL FIGHT'
Many of the ads seek to portray the incumbent as close to Barack
Obama and the president's policies in areas such as healthcare, a
common refrain from all three Republican candidates.
"We are going after Mark Begich, his failed record," said Sullivan,
who received the backing of former Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice and even a $1,250 donation from former President George W.
Bush, for whom he once served as assistant secretary of state. "But
we are defining ourselves with regard to my Republican primary
opponents."
Treadwell says he welcomes his underdog status, and that he believes
his 40 years of experience in Alaskan politics will help him
prevail.
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"What I hear from Alaskans is they are fed up with this kind of
snowball fight between Mark Begich and Dan Sullivan," Treadwell
said.
Miller, a Fairbanks attorney, is best known for his 2010 primary
upset of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, only to lose to her as a
write-in candidate three months later.
Miller, who has the backing of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin,
said he does not believe he is the long shot some make him out to
be. He cited the recent stunning upset of former House Majority
Leader Eric Cantor to the Tea Party's Dave Brat in Virginia.
"Both of the other candidates are establishment candidates who will
ultimately do what the ruling class asks them to do, "Miller said.
"They are part of the problem."
Jennifer Duffy, an analyst with the Cook Political Report in
Washington, D.C., said Sullivan is the favorite in a tight, closely
watched contest.
"The Republicans call this an opportunity, and Democrats pretty much
say, 'Yeah.' They don't deny it," Duffy said.
Meanwhile in conservative Wyoming, which has three times as many
registered Republicans as Democrats, Tuesday's primary sees
incumbent Governor Matt Mead seeking re-election in a three-way race
for the GOP nomination that includes the state's superintendent of
public instruction and a retired physician.
(Reporting by Steve Quinn; Additional reporting by Laura Zuckerman
in Salmon, Idaho; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Eric Walsh)
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