Mary Peltola

Early life and education

Born Mary Sattler, Peltola is Yup'ik (an Alaska Native people) from the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta in Western Alaska. She was born in Anchorage on August 31, 1973. Her Yup'ik name is Akalleq (). Peltola's father, Ward Sattler, a German-American from Nebraska, moved to Alaska to work as a pilot and teacher. Her mother, Elizabeth "LizAnn" Piicigaq Williams, is Yup'ik from Kwethluk. Peltola was raised in the communities of Kwethluk, Tuntutuliak, Platinum, and Bethel. As a child, she traveled with her father around Alaska as he campaigned for Congressman Don Young.

Peltola studied elementary education at the University of Northern Colorado from 1991 to 1993 and later took courses at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Alaska Southeast, and University of Alaska Anchorage from 1994 to 1998. As a college student, she worked as a herring and salmon technician for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

In 1995, Peltola won the Miss National Congress of American Indians pageant. In the competition, she performed two Yup'ik dances and wore traditional clothing, including a squirrel skin parka, wolf hair headdress, and mukluks.

Early career

In 1996, Peltola was an intern in the Alaska Legislature. Later that year, she ran for a Bethel region seat, losing to incumbent Ivan Ivan by 56 votes. Peltola worked as the campaign manager for Ivan's challenger, Independent candidate Willie Kasayulie, in the general election. Peltola later worked as a reporter.

Alaska House of Representatives (1999–2009)

In 1998, Peltola was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives, after a successful rematch against Ivan in the Democratic primary. She appeared on the ballot under her maiden name, though she was married to Jonathan Kapsner at the time. She was elected and reelected mostly without or with only minimal opposition. Ivan's return to challenge her in the 2002 primary was the closest contest she faced.

In the House, Peltola served on various standing committees, including Finance, Resources and Health and Social Services. She helped to rebuild the Bush Caucus, a bipartisan group of representatives and senators who represent rural and off-road communities in Alaska.

In 2004, Peltola criticized No Child Left Behind Act rules that would impede continuing the practice of administering tests in some western Alaskan schools in the native Yupik language.

Peltola authored a law which allowed teachers to be given exemption from jury duty if they work at schools that had failed to meet adequate annual progress. This was signed into law by governor Frank Murkowski in July 2004.

Local offices (2009–2022)

Peltola worked as manager of community development and sustainability for the Donlin Creek Mine from 2008 to 2014. In 2010, after incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski lost her party's primary, Peltola helped run her successful write-in campaign.

Peltola was elected to the Bethel City Council in 2011, and served until her term ended in 2013. She was a lobbyist in Alaska from 2015 to 2017.

After 2016, Peltola served as executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. From 2020 to 2021, she served as a judge on the Orutsararmiut Native Council's (ONC) tribal court.

U.S. House of Representatives (2022–2025)

Elections

2022 special

Main article: 2022 Alaska's at-large congressional district special election

In 2022 Alaska's at-large congressional district special election was conducted under the newly established ranked-choice voting system to fill the seat of Don Young after his death. Some 48 candidates ran in the blanket primary, with the top-four finishers advancing to the general election.

One withdrew and Peltola was one of three candidates to proceed to ranked voting. She advanced to the runoff, the only Democrat to do so. Al Gross, an independent in third place in the primary, dropped out of the ranked choice runoff, leaving two Republicans, former governor Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III. Gross endorsed Peltola and Republican Tara Sweeney after dropping out of the race. Three Alaska voters filed a losing suit to challenge the decision not to allow Republican Tara Sweeney, the fifth placer in the primary, to advance to the runoff. Sweeney subsequently withdrew her candidacy. In the first round of ranked choice, Begich was eliminated. Peltola defeated Palin in the final ranked-choice runoff.

2022

Main article: 2022 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska

Peltola sought a full term in the 2022 general election. She advanced to the general election in first place, receiving 36.8% of the votes in the primary. Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski, running for her fourth term in the U.S. Senate, told Alaska Federation of Natives Convention delegates that she intended to vote for Peltola as her top choice in the 2022 House election. Murkowski said: "I do not toe the party line just because party leaders have asked... My first obligation is to the people of the state of Alaska."

Ahead of the November 2022 election, Peltola announced endorsements from Don Young's daughters, Joni Nelson and Dawn Vallely, in addition to Don Young's former communications director Zack Brown and several bipartisan political figures. Various other friends and former staff of Don Young endorsed Peltola in a formal endorsement letter. Peltola, who received just under 49% of the vote in initial balloting, was declared the winner on November 23. She defeated Palin again with 55% of the ranked-choice vote. (Votes cast for her as the second-place choice on ballots of the eliminated third-place candidate, Nick Begich III, were added to her total.)

2024

Main article: 2024 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska

The primary election was held on August 20, 2024, with candidates Peltola, Republicans Nick Begich III and Nancy Dahlstrom emerging as the main candidates. After placing third, Dahlstrom withdrew from the race. The four candidates were Begich, Peltola, Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe, and Democratic Eric Hafner.

On November 20, it was announced that Begich had defeated Peltola. In the first round, Begich received 48.42% of the vote against Peltola's 46.36%. After other candidates were eliminated, the final round resulted in Begich receiving 51.3% of the vote against Peltola's 48.7%, making him the winner.

Tenure

Peltola was sworn in as Alaska's U.S. representative on September 13, 2022. Upon her swearing in, Congress had an Alaska Native (Peltola), four Native Americans (Sharice Davids, Yvette Herrell, Markwayne Mullin, and Tom Cole); and a Native Hawaiian (Kai Kahele) serving simultaneously for the first time ever. She is the fourth Native woman elected to Congress, after Davids, Herrell, and Deb Haaland.

On September 29, 2022, Peltola passed her first bill through the House. The bill would create an Office of Food Security in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Peltola's bill passed the House in a 376–49 vote.

During the 2022 United States railroad labor dispute, Peltola was one of eight House Democrats to vote against a bill that would impose a new contract on railroad workers; several rail unions were voting against it. She said she could not support a contract that did not include paid sick days.

In February 2023, Peltola announced that she had chosen Josh Revak, a former Republican state senator who was a competitor in the 2022 special election, to run her Alaska office. Peltola's congressional staffers included Republicans. Her chief of staff, Alex Ortiz, was chief of staff to her predecessor Don Young. In April 2023, Ortiz left her congressional office to take a position with her campaign in Southeast Alaska.

Peltola's office ranked second-highest in staff turnover for the U.S. House of Representatives, with a turnover nearly four times the House average.

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:

• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Federal Lands
  • Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation

Caucus memberships

• Blue Dog Coalition
• Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment

2026 U.S. Senate campaign

Throughout 2025, Peltola was seen as a possible contender for governor or U.S. senator for the 2026 elections. On January 12, 2026, Peltola declared her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan.

Political positions

Peltola is a moderate Blue Dog Democrat and often broke the Democratic party line while serving in the U.S. House.

Abortion rights

Energy

Peltola supports the ConocoPhillips Willow Project and increased oil development within the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska. She urged the White House and the Interior Department to approve the project, which they did.

Fisheries

Peltola has focused on fisheries in her election campaigns. She supports reforming the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, to better protect fisheries and marine ecosystems. She believes that the act's focus on "optimum yield" has privileged economic considerations over environmental ones, and supports amending the act to prioritize the environment.

Gun rights

In her 2024 reelection campaign, Peltola was endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), making her the only Democratic candidate for Congress endorsed by that group during that election cycle.

Israel and Palestine

Peltola is pro-Israel and has broken from her party to vote for measures supporting Israel when she served in the U.S. House.

LGBTQ rights

On April 20, 2023, Peltola voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would have required individuals participating in competitive sports to compete in the category associated with their assigned sex rather than gender identity. She described the bill as "bullying". Referring to the bill's focus on the transgender community, Peltola stated, "I don't know why on earth as adults and national leaders, we'd be piling on and targeting them and trying to make their lives even harder."

Personal life

Peltola is the first U.S. Representative from Alaska to be born in the state. She is an Alaska Native and a member of the Orutsararmiut Native Council. She is Orthodox Christian and belongs to the Orthodox Church in America. As such, she has familiarity with Russian, along with English and Yupik.

Peltola has four biological children and three stepchildren. Her third husband, Eugene "Buzzy" Peltola Jr., served as Alaska director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He died in 2023 after the plane he was flying crashed. In 2025, Peltola sued the company which owned the aircraft.

Electoral history

State house elections

Bethel City Council elections

Note: This election was to fill four seats with two-year terms and two seats with one-year terms. Candidates were given the choice of which seat to fill on the basis of their vote count, with the highest vote count given first preference to decide which length of a term they wanted to fill. Mary Sattler (Mary Peltola), Richard D. Robb, Gene Peltola Jr., and Mark Springer filled two-year terms while Joseph A. Klejka and Kent Harding filled one-year terms.

U.S. House elections

Notes

References

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