Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola continues to be one of the Democrats most likely to vote against her party. She voted this week for five bills and a non-binding resolution that most of her Democratic colleagues voted against.
Several of the bills call for tougher enforcement of the southern border. As she has before, Pelotola voted to condemn President Biden’s handling of the border. She also voted for a bill to deport undocumented migrants who assault police officers. And she voted for a bill that removes the power of the local council of the District of Columbia to change the city’s sentencing laws.
Peltola was also among just 16 Democrats who voted with Republicans on a bill to prevent the Biden administration from withholding military aid to Israel.
It’s an election year, and voting against her party undercuts one of the main lines of attack Republicans aim at her: the claim that she’s in lockstep with the Biden administration.
According to a ProPublica database, Peltola has voted against the Democratic position 97 times since the start of last year.
Her main challengers are Republicans Nick Begich and Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. Begich is aligning himself with hard-right members of Congress. This week he announced that Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is endorsing him.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
