Mary Peltola, the former Alaska congresswoman running for the US Senate

Former Alaska congresswoman Mary Peltola is running for the US Senate in 2026, where she will compete against Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan. Mary Sattler Peltola is making headlines as she challenges Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan for Alaska’s US Senate seat. A retired teacher, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. is also running for the seat as a Republican. A member of the Democratic party, Peltola’s campaign focuses on lowering living costs, protecting fisheries and making housing more affordable. She secured nearly 50% of the votes in Alaska’s August 2026 primary. The race has garnered nationwide attention as President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance recently traveled there to hold a rally in support of incumbent Dan Sullivan.Mary Peltola represented Alaska in the US House of Representatives from 2022 to 2025. (REUTERS/Kerry Tasker)Mary Peltola began her political career in 1999 when she was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives. She served there for a decade and later joined the Bethel City Council from 2011 to 2013. In 2017, she became executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. In 2022, she won a special election to the US House of Representatives, succeeding Congressman Don Young. She became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress and served until 2025. She lost re-election to Republican Nick Begich and left Congress in January 2025.Growing up in Alaska, family and educationPeltola was born on August 31, 1973, in Anchorage, Alaska. She grew up in rural Alaska along the Kuskokwim River and is Yup’ik, an Alaskan indigenous group. Her mother, Elizabeth Williams was from the Yup’ik village of Kwethluk. Her father, Ward Sattler, moved to Alaska from Nebraska and worked as a teacher, principal and bush pilot. Peltola spent her childhood fishing salmon with her father, an experience that later shaped her interest in fisheries and rural Alaskan communities.As a student, she attended the University of Northern Colorado, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Alaska Southeast and the University of Alaska Anchorage between 1991 and 1998. She has seven children, including four biological children and three stepchildren whom she raised with her late husband Eugene “Buzzy” Peltola Jr, a former Alaska regional director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He died in a plane crash in September 2023.Peltola’s campaign focus and key issuesBy using the slogan “Fish, Family, Freedom”, she argues that federal policies should cater more to “Alaska’s unique needs”. She has made fisheries, the cost of living and energy affordability her main focus in the US Senate race. Growing up fishing salmon and working with the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, she favors banning factory trawling, reducing bycatch, increasing funding for fish stock assessments and providing assistance to fishing communities affected by declining fish populations. Moreover, she stands for expanding the Child Tax Credit, increasing access to childcare and cutting income taxes for working and middle-class Alaskans earning less than $92,000 annually.Peltola has also advocated for oil and gas development in Alaska, including the Willow project and has called for faster government approvals for energy projects. Her energy plan also includes improving electricity access in rural communities, along with restoring federal tax credits for wind, solar and hydropower projects. She also called for providing assistance to low income families and a greater investment in geothermal energy.Also Read | Want to flip the Senate? Try fish and charismaImmigration, jobs, trade and tariffsDuring a 2022 congressional campaign, Peltola stated that she wants Alaskans to be prioritized for local jobs over immigrants. In 2023, she voted against the Secure the Border Act, which proposed tighter border enforcement and asylum restrictions. However, in 2024, she voted for the Laken Riley Act, which requires the detention of certain undocumented immigrants accused of specific crimes. She also co-sponsored the bipartisan Dignity Act, which proposed changes to border enforcement and a legal status process for eligible undocumented immigrants.Moreover, a key part of Peltola’s campaign is creating well paying jobs and making life more affordable for Alaskans. She has backed oil and gas development, arguing that investment in Alaska’s natural resources can create jobs and support local communities. She also criticized tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, arguing that they’ve led to a hike in prices and have hurt local industries. Alaska’s seafood sector is highly affected because it depends heavily on overseas markets. For her current Senate campaign, she highlights the protection of Alaskan industries and lowering shipping costs.Iran war and AIMary Peltola has opposed the US war with Iran and urged that Congress needs to step in and put a limit on the conflict. In May 2026, she stated that she is willing to vote for a law that can restrict the President’s military actions. During her Senate campaign, she has criticised Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan for supporting the war, arguing that it has contributed to rising fuel and energy costs for Alaskans. She urged Congress to keep a much closer eye on the Trump administration’s military choices.In addition to that, Peltola has called for government regulation of artificial intelligence, raising concerns about its impact on jobs and energy costs. During an October 2026 Senate debate, she argued that tech companies running data centres should pay for their own energy bills instead of passing the costs to regular consumers. She also stressed upon the need to consider how AI could affect workers as the technology becomes more widespread. In an October 2026 post on her Substack, she criticised Republican Senator Dan Sullivan for encouraging technology companies to build data centres in Alaska. She alleged that Sullivan benefits financially through these projects.Also Read | US Midterm Elections 2026: How to register to vote, when is the last day, what documents are required? FAQs answeredClashes and controversiesIn September 2026, several staff members that worked under Peltola alleged that she had shouted at aides, used offensive slurs regarding LGBTQ+ and physically pushed an aide while working in the Congress. The report, based on interviews with former employees and text messages, also described a message in which she allegedly expressed a wish for a Planned Parenthood board member to die due to a disagreement over an endorsement. Peltola’s campaign rejected the allegations, arguing that the report exaggerated incidents from a difficult period in her life after the deaths of her mother and husband in 2023.In August 2026, Peltola and Senator Dan Sullivan clashed over political links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Peltola’s campaign ran ads accusing Sullivan of accepting $10,000 from associates linked to the Epstein case. Her ads also criticized Sullivan for voting against an amendment that sought to release the Epstein files. Sullivan strongly denied these claims, calling them a “smear” campaign, and pointing that he voted for the final bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act. He alleged that Peltola herself had accepted contributions from figures linked to the Epstein case. She denied these allegations and no formal investigation took place.Personal wealth and moreAccording to Newsweek, Peltola’s reported net worth ranges from $62,006 to $230,000. Her campaign also stated that she did not own any stocks. According to the Federal Election Commission, her campaign received approximately $152,000 in contributions and spent around $233,000 between January 2025 and February 2026.As the election date approaches, Peltola continues to focus her campaign on lowering living costs, protecting Alaska’s fishing industry and creating jobs, while challenging incumbent Dan Sullivan for the state’s US Senate seat.– By Tanisha SharmaSumanti Sen covers everything that’s happening in the US, from politics to entertainment, but her expertise lies in covering crime news. She has comprehensively chronicled the Idaho student murders, the Laken Riley and Iryna Zarutska cases, and the killing of Charlie Kirk, among other incidents. Over the years, she has interviewed several victims/families of victims of crimes seeking justice. She digs up stories that might otherwise remain unheard, and does her bit to ensure that victims and survivors’ voices are heard. Sumanti’s many years of experience also include interviews with Hamas attack survivors and mental health experts, among others. Her coverage of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and interviews with survivors of the tragedy, coupled with her other works including the Titan submersible coverage, earned her the Digi Journo of the Quarter award during her first year at Hindustan Times. Sumanti actively tracks missing person cases in the United States, and peruses Reddit and other social media platforms to bring to light cases that frequently elude public attention. She has extensively covered the disappearances of Nancy Guthrie, Thomas Medlin, Beau Mann, and Sudiksha Konanki, among others. When not at work, you will either find her with her novels, or with her beloved rescue pooches.Read More