Mary Peltola
Mary Peltola represented Alaska in the U.S. House from 2022 to 2025 and lost her seat narrowly in 2024.
“62% of Alaskans are independent, nonpartisan, undeclared. Most of us don't see ourselves through a partisan lens. If I had to describe myself, I think a Democrat might be the hundredth way that I would even describe myself. So every issue is unique and every circumstance is unique. And I think you just need to keep an open mind and really listen to Alaskans.”
The Bulwark · Policy · September 2026
Context
Asked about working with a Democratic Senate caucus, Peltola said Alaska's delegation should fight for the state regardless of party. From her interview with Tim Miller on The Bulwark Daily, September 24, 2026.
Transcript
…ever do that. That is just such a travesty. And just big picture, when I kind of zoom out, it just feels like reverse Robin Hood, where we're taking from the poor and middle income and shifting that to the ultra-rich, not just rich people, ultra-rich. And I just, it just doesn't sit well with me.
…to the Senate. And, you know, we kind of saw how Manchester and Cinema created problems at times and saw how they worked with Biden at times. I just kind of wonder how you sort of think about that, like being independent-minded, caring about Alaska, but also recognizing that you're in a party.
As an Alaskan, we really expect our congressional delegation, our federal delegation, to fight for us regardless of who the president is, regardless of your party. And there's always a lack of understanding about Alaska. You really just don't understand Alaska until you've been here. And we have such unique regions of our state. I think of Alaska as being six states within a state. And I'm talking about big Western states. So we just have unique, unique needs. If we were our own country, we'd be the 18th largest country in the world. 82% of our communities you can only get to by air. We're vast. And again, our energy sources come from many different places. So like when Biden was the president, I went toe-to-toe with him almost every week, if not twice a week, on things like prohibiting natural gas stoves. If you're in South Central Alaska, natural gas is your cheapest resource for things like stoves. And, you know, there was a push to require, you know, to phase out internal combustion gas engines for electric cars. Well, if your powerhouse is generated by diesel and you're paying a dollar a kilowatt hour, it makes no sense to have an…
them. Thinking about being in the Senate, assuming you could win. There are a couple of things that come up as far as how the process is going to work. I just wonder if you've put any thoughts into Chuck Schumer as majority leader for the Democrats and whether you'd support him and the question of…
You know, I'm not focused on the composition right now. There's, you know, and it's so funny because we live in an unprecedented time and it's been an unprecedented time for a very long time. So I think. I'm sick of
talking about how unprecedented it is, to be honest.
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