WASHINGTON — Congresswoman Mary Peltola is still in office. That changes Jan. 3, when Nick Begich III is sworn in as Alaska’s representative in the U.S. House.
But “in office” is a metaphor. She no longer has a physical office at the Capitol. The House booted her from her office suite after she lost. This awkward administrative send-off is routine for any losing House candidate, but it came as a surprise to Peltola. As it would. She is the first Alaskan to lose re-election to the U.S. House since 1966.
She sometimes sounds philosophical about her defeat.
“I’m not upset about the loss at all,” she said, from a political consultant’s office a few blocks from her old digs at the Cannon House Office Building. “I have known my whole life that politics is about timing and luck. It's all about timing. And two years ago, the tide and the wind and the current were all in our favor, and this time, they were totally against us.”
In 2022, she won a special election and then the regular election. Back then, the two Republicans in the race, Sarah Palin and Nick Begich, went after each other. Peltola could stay above the fray. At the Alaska Federation of Natives convention that year, Palin had nothing but praise for her Democratic rival.
“We’re in Mary’s house. I know that. And I’m just as proud as all of you are,” Palin gushed at the time.
This year the political seas had changed. Other Republican candidates dropped out, focusing conservative support on Begich. And Donald Trump was on the ballot, inspiring more Republican voters to the polls. About 18,000 Alaska Trump voters split their ticket to vote for Peltola. Still, she fell about 8,000 votes short. With the presidential race as it was, Peltola says hers was unwinnable.
“We worked really hard. There wasn't anything more we could have done to squeeze out 8,000 more votes. That's a lot of votes in Alaska,” she said. “There were a lot of Democrats who supported me, and a lot of Republicans and independents and nonpartisans. And who can be upset about that?”
She’s proud of her work for Arctic oil development at Willow, against the supermarket merger, as well as her work on fish policy and icebreaker acquisition.
But she’s pessimistic that the House can tackle the nation’s problems. The hyperpartisanship runs too deep, she said, and the two-year election cycle drives everything. The fundraising pressure is unrelenting.
“You have to sign a contract saying that you will do this many hours of call time per day, and you will raise this much money a quarter. And they're really big targets if you're from a front line state,” she said.
Chief of Staff Anton McParland describes it as more of an internal strategy.
“These are our benchmarks. This is what we have to do to get to the money that we need each quarter,” he said. “And we did that. And it didn't get us what we needed to do. But I think that's very much a function of national currents.”
With McParland’s help, Peltola raised $13 million, more than all but a handful of other House candidates.
Her time in office was marked by a huge personal loss — the death of her husband, Gene Peltola, in a plane crash.
Among her favorite congressional memories was a dinner they were invited to in her first year. The scene was the grand and formal Statuary Hall at the Capitol, the former House chamber. Peltola was to give the opening prayer.
“My husband had said, 'You really should do the prayer in Yup’ik.' And I said, 'No, I want people to understand what I'm saying,'” she recalled. “So I did the prayer in English, and I sat down, and the former speaker of the House said, 'Oh, I was really hoping you do it in your language.'”
Then another Democratic leader said the same thing. Peltola got a do-over. After dinner, she said the prayer again, in Yup’ik.
“To be asked — expected to and asked — and given two chances to do the prayer in my language was really meaningful,” she said. “Because for decades and centuries, there has been a concerted effort to erase Native people, erase languages, erase cultures. And to be able to offer a prayer in Yup’ik was just deeply, deeply meaningful to me. And for there to be a desire to hear that,”
Peltola said she’s looking forward to having a private life again. She’s only willing to joke about any future political plans.
“In 2026 I intend to run for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House,” she said. “All at the same time.”
Whatever she does, she said she knows she’ll work with McParland again. He was instrumental to her campaigns and her congressional office, and the two have become fast friends.
