Petersburg Pilot -

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Al Gross commands a fishing boat as a narrator describes him prospecting for gold and killing a grizzly bear in self-defense in an ad meant to underscore a central theme of Gross' U.S. Senate campaign as an independent: that he knows Alaska.

“Out here,” he says as the boat rocks on the water, “if you can't think for yourself, you won't survive.”

Gross, a doctor running with Democratic support, is challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan in a state that has long been a GOP stronghold, outraising Sullivan and putting Republicans on the defensive. Across th...