Mary Peltola
September 28, 2026 · Newsletter
My decision
This campaign is heating up, so today I’m reaching out to re-introduce myself.
My name is Mary Peltola. I’m a Yup’ik Eskimo, lifelong fisherman, and military mom of two Coasties. I grew up in Western Alaska on the Kuskokwim River, salmon fishing with my father. My husband Buzzy and I raised seven children here in Alaska, spending long summer days at fish camp.
In 2022, I was elected in a special election to serve as the sole representative of Alaska in the United States Congress. It was an enormous privilege and honor to represent our beautiful state in DC – but as soon as I got there, I was shocked by the corruption.
One of my earliest votes after being sworn into office was in support of striking rail workers. I stood up to my own party – including President Biden – to vote against breaking the workers’ strike because I thought (and still think!) that you should be able to see a doctor or take a sick day without worrying that you’re going to lose your job.
I was rated one of the most bipartisan members of Congress because I’ll work with anyone to stand up for Alaskans and put Alaska first.
Alaska has a long tradition of bipartisanship and working across the aisle to get things done. Ted Stevens and Don Young ignored Lower 48 partisanship to fight for things like public media and disaster relief because rural Alaska depends on them.
I believe in standing up for what I believe and fighting hard for my values. But I also believe that, fundamentally, we all want the same thing: to bring abundance back to Alaska.
When I was growing up, we were able to depend upon salmon runs, large game, and migratory birds to fill our freezers for the winter. Now, we have scarcity – so we buy more groceries, where the prices are just crushing Alaska families.
And I’ve got to tell you, DC people do not care that we are paying more than 25 bucks for a gallon of fuel in rural Alaska. They don’t even believe us. They’re focused on their own wallets – not ours.
And when they actually work together on something, it’s usually to help themselves. The rigged system in DC is shutting down Alaska and hurting all of us while politicians and their millionaire and billionaire donors feather their own nest.
My agenda for Alaska will always be: fish, family, freedom. These values have been the core values of my campaigns since the very beginning. But if we’re going to secure Alaska’s future, we need another priority: fighting corruption.
I’m running for Alaska’s Senate seat because we’re in the fight for our future.
This is going to be the closest and most consequential Senate race this year, and I cannot do this alone. There is only one way we’ll be able to flip this seat… and that is together.
So I am asking: Please contribute to my campaign for the U.S. Senate today as we begin the general election. No donation is too small. They will all add up fast to give us the resources we need to WIN in November.
We are going to win this race and bring abundance back to Alaska. Thank you for being a part of it.
- Mary