Mary Peltola aims to keep her seat | Policy

Rep. Mary Peltola is seeking to maintain her role as Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat. The Democratic incumbent made history as the first Alaska Native woman to serve in Congress when she was elected in 2022.

Peltola was originally elected to fill the vacancy left by the death of Rep. Don Young in March 2022. She ran for a full term in the subsequent general election, finishing in first place ahead of former Governor Sarah Palin and businessman Nick Begich III after ranked-choice voting was tabulated.

A Bethel resident, Peltola worked at the Alaska House for 10 years from 1999 to 2009. Since leaving office, she has served on the Bethel City Council from 2011 to 2013 and as a tribal judge on the Orutsarmiut First Nation Council Tribal Court from 2020 to 2021.

Peltola is eager to continue her role, consistently saying she puts Alaskans first over partisan politics and that she is willing to work across party lines.

“I have demonstrated the ability to work successfully in a bipartisan manner,” Peltola said during a candidate forum Oct. 22 in Anchorage. I think our state needs healing. I think our country needs healing.”

Peltola’s seat in Congress includes a commitment to protecting subsistence fisheries, which have declined sharply in the past few years on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers.

“There’s nothing funny about fish,” she said during a candidate forum in Kodiak. “This is how we feed our families, and this is our identity, and we need to make sure that we maintain that, whether it’s the bycatch issue or a host of other issues that are causing problems for our fisheries today.”

Peltola was the loudest voice in the Alaska delegation opposing the pending Albertsons-Kroeger merger. She has consistently said the merger, which would impact Safeway CARR and Fred Meyer stores in Alaska, would cause irreparable harm to jobs and food security in the state. If the merger goes ahead, Kroger has indicated it would sell 18 Safeways in Alaska, including in Fairbanks and the North Pole, to another company as part of the deal.

Peltola supports extending the Trump-era tax cuts passed in 2017 and supports current legislation that extends those tax cuts to small businesses.

Peltola continues to voice support for the planned LNG pipeline in Alaska, citing natural gas as a key energy source for expanding the renewable energy project.

Peltola supports several Biden-era packages, such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Relief Act. She said federal funds for these projects play an important role in updating Alaska’s energy infrastructure and expanding broadband access.

She noted that she successfully helped secure the approval of ConocoPhillips’ Willow oil project on the North Slope in 2023.

“I have demonstrated the strongest commitment to Alaska’s mineral rights by helping to build strength through a second permit for the Willow Project,” Peltola said during a candidate forum Oct. 11 in Fairbanks. “And I think all Alaskans saw a direct benefit.”

She said bipartisan efforts by the Alaska delegation, including herself and Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, won approval.

“Willow would not have happened if it wasn’t for the bipartisan delegation, and I made it possible,” Peltola said.

However, she calls for a balanced approach between resource development and environmental protection. She opposes the proposed Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay and has expressed concerns about the Ambler Road project, which would create a 211-mile private access road from the Dalton Highway to mineral-rich resources in the Ambler mining district.

“This project is unique because it spans two different regions. It spans the Doyon region and the NANA region, and both of those regions are very interested in having good jobs like those in Red Dog,” Peltola said at the Fairbanks forum. “Both of these regions are also investing heavily in accessing the limited fish and game resources that are available to them.”

The main sticking point, she said, was the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, the state corporation leading the Ambler Road project.

During an Oct. 11 forum in Anchorage, she said she would oppose the federal abortion ban.

“I believe in women’s reproductive rights, I trust women and their doctors,” Peltola said. “I don’t think politicians have anything to do with this discussion.”

Peltola declined to say whether she would support Vice President Kamala Harris for president, but she made clear she would not vote for Donald Trump. During the forum in Anchorage, she said there was no point in opining on the presidential race without knowing how they would staff their cabinets.

“I think it’s a waste of my time,” Peltoa said. “This is not the race I’m running and I’m focused on the race I’m running.”

Neither Peltola nor Nick Begich III responded to News-Miner candidate questionnaires.