Dan Sullivan skipped half of fisheries hearings

Republican Dan Sullivan missed several meetings for a Senate subcommittee that deals with issues critical to Alaskans. He also ranks among the top 25% of most frequently absent senators in general.

Sullivan has served on the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) since he joined the Senate in 2015. He also sits on EPW’s Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife Subcommittee, which writes and reviews policies related to the fishing industry and water conservation.

Alaska’s fishery and seafood industry generates about $5.3 billion in annual revenue for the state. Sullivan’s own website touts EPW’s work as “vital to Alaska.”

Between 2021 and 2026, however, Sullivan missed four of the subcommittee’s eight hearings. This includes missing the only subcommittee hearing for 2026. This was a sharp drop-off for Sullivan who only missed one subcommittee hearing between 2015 and 2020.

One of the 2023 hearings Sullivan skipped was focused on water affordability and infrastructure. A 2021 McGill University study found that rural Alaskans paid ten times as much for water as those living in Anchorage. Water utility rates in the state are expected to increase by as much as 5% this year.

GovTrack, a nonpartisan site monitoring federal legislation and members of Congress, ranks Sullivan as the 14th most absent senator in general between 2015 and 2025. Sullivan has the same attendance record in this period as 84-year-old Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Sullivan missed several votes as a result of these absences, including a 2025 vote to confirm Howard Lutnik as Commerce Secretary. He also missed a 2024 vote to confirm Michael Sfraga as the first-ever U.S. ambassador-at-large for Arctic Affairs, a position that worked closely with Alaska’s Indigenous communities.

In 2018, Sullivan missed a cloture vote fast-tracking a farm bill that he touted and pushed for. He later celebrated the bill’s passage with a press release entitled “Sullivan Secures Important Provisions For Alaska Fishermen And Farmers In Farm Bill.”

Sullivan is seeking a third term in the Senate this year. His Democratic is former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola. An Alaska Survey Research poll from August shows Peltona leading Sullivan by one point.