With a federal decision looming on the fate of the Pebble Mine project that would devastate Bristol Bay, home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery, Dan Sullivan has been quietly accepting campaign cash from the executive behind this disastrous project. The overwhelming majority of Alaskans oppose Pebble Mine – and not only has Sullivan misled Alaskans for years about where he stands, he even broke his pledge to return the campaign cash he received from Pebble’s scandal-plagued former CEO.
“After years of Dan Sullivan breaking his promise to clean up his act and stand with Alaskans, he’s still cashing checks from Pebble executives as they resurrect this harmful project,” said Alaska Democratic Party Chair Eric Croft. “DC Dan is a self-dealing politician who sold out Alaska’s fishermen and families to pad his own pockets. Leaked backroom conversations with Pebble execs revealed the truth about Sullivan years ago: he stays silent in public and betrays Alaskans in private. That’s why Alaskans will fire him this November.”
This week’s searing reporting exposes that Dan Sullivan broke his promise to donate Pebble Mine-tied campaign contributions to charity, has continued raking in money from a Pebble executive, and has a “long history of advocacy” for the project, all while staying silent publicly as the mine inches closer to reality.
The mine pushed by the executives bankrolling Sullivan’s campaign would sit at the headwaters of the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery, jeopardizing over $2 billion in annual economic value, thousands of Alaskans’ jobs, and hundreds of Alaska subsistence families’ way of life.
Read more about Self-Serving Sullivan’s betrayal, as reported yesterday:
Sullivan “has remained silent” on the latest Pebble Mine revival “as he seeks re-election this year,” while continuing to accept donations from Pebble backers as recently as December 2025.
After the 2020 scandal in which Pebble CEO Tom Collier was caught on a hot mic boasting about his relationship with Sullivan, Sullivan abruptly came out against the mine and pledged to donate Pebble Mine-tied contributions to charity. He never did.
Sullivan has continued collecting cash from Pebble’s highest levels, including a December 2025 donation from current Pebble Limited Partnership CEO John Shively — Shively’s only contribution this election cycle, made on the eve of a major federal court deadline that could determine the mine’s fate.
In total, Sullivan has received over $34,150 from Pebble’s top brass.
Sullivan’s ties to the project run deep: he defended Pebble Mine in court in 2009.
Dan Sullivan has been hauling in the dirty special interest cash in private, while remaining silent on Pebble in public as the project gains traction again, exactly as Pebble leadership predicted he would. With the future of Bristol Bay hanging in the balance, one thing is crystal clear: Dan Sullivan sold out Alaskans for special interest campaign cash, and he cannot be trusted.