Mary Peltola makes campaign stop in Nome

Around 50 people attended a campaign event hosted by U.S. Senate candidate Democrat Mary Peltola last week at Nome VFW Post #9569.
Peltola was Alaska’s congresswoman from 2022 to 2025. She won a special election after Don Young’s death, was elected in the 2022 general election to a full term but lost the 2024 election to current Congressman Nick Begich, a Republican. From 1999 to 2009 she served in the Alaska House of Representatives. 
The room slowly filled with attendees content to wait for the Senate hopeful as evening sun streamed in through the windows. Several parents brought kids. La Casita served food courtesy of the Peltola campaign. Peltola was introduced by Roy Ashenfelter and Lew Tobin before giving a ten-minute stump speech. She opened the floor to questions from attendees and then met with people for about an hour.
In her remarks, Peltola touched on the rising costs of living, cuts to federal programs, the rural subsistence preference and how members of the Congressional delegation should fight for funding for Alaska. 
Much of Peltola’s remarks focused on corporate greed – in healthcare, fisheries, cost of living and in the U.S. Congress. “There are 435 in the House and 100 in the Senate. Half of them are millionaires and billionaires,” she said. “Alaska has the fewest millionaires of any state, I think we have a handful. We have no billionaires. Honestly, I think this is a good thing.”
She referenced the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s cuts to federal programs and cuts to Medicaid. She talked about her past as a city council member, serving as a judge on tribal court and how was executive director of the Kuskokwim Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. She finished her speech by speaking about rural preference. “The rural preference for Alaskans is so important. Dan Sullivan is against the rural preference for Alaskans,” she said. “This is not race-based. Every person in Alaska can qualify to be a rural federally qualified user, you just have to live next to the resource.”
Peltola fielded four questions from the crowd before breaking to speak to attendees individually. She said that her campaign events have been packed. “This is a moral moment, and we can all feel it. And I feel like people who have never been involved in politics are now saying it’s time to get involved,” she said.
In response to a question from Lew Tobin about how attack ads depict Peltola as anti-armed forces, Peltola apologized to everyone in the room for how attack ads and the political campaign season take over TV, calling it toxic. She referenced voting against the National Defense Authorization Act due to a provision on reproductive rights, and how that cropped up in attack ads as proof of her not supporting the military and veterans, despite her voting for the bill later. She said she feels she has to run attack ads to remain competitive in the race. “In my attack ads, I give the information on what legislation it was. There’s no information in their attacks. It’s just lies,” she said.
Jamie Burgess, Superintendent of Nome Public Schools, asked Peltola what her priorities would be in regard to public education.
Peltola said that nothing could be more important than public education across the state and said that she is concerned with the recent push to privatize education. “Government should not be a private business. It should not make a profit,” she said. “Government is not designed to do that, and public education is part of that. It’s not designed to be a money maker.” 
In response to a question from Brendon Scanlon on supporting Ukraine, Peltola said that she fully supports Ukraine. “I just feel like Ukraine is fighting our war for us; they are our ally,” she said. 
Scanlon also pointed out that Senator Dan Sullivan, the incumbent, has been quiet about Trump’s position on Ukraine. “Dan Sullivan used to make a lot of noise about Biden not providing enough support and weapons to Ukraine by Russia. But when Trump became president, he really got quiet,” he said.
Peltola said when she was a member of Alaska’s congressional delegation alongside Sullivan, the two of them went toe to toe against the Biden administration on executive or legislative orders that were not a good fit for Alaska. “I have not seen one time where Dan Sullivan has stood up to Donald Trump, even when ICE killed a VA nurse in broad daylight,” she said.
 
The final question of the evening was asked by Loretta Bullard, who asked what Peltola thought about the weaponization of the Department of Justice. “That’s really scary for all Americans, and I’m wondering what you think should be done about it,” said Bullard. Peltola said that she had received word that the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Federal Election Commission were investigating her campaign over allegations of her bribing someone to run. “You guys, I don’t have money for my bills. I don’t have money to be bribing anybody. I have nothing to do with either Dan Sullivan campaigns,” said Peltola, referring to allegations that her campaign colluded with Dan Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg, who bears the same name as the incumbent.
She went on to say that she was concerned with a Department of Justice investigation “over nothing” and that she believed in civics and the rule of law. “We just can’t have arbitrary decisions being made over feelings,” she said. “This is not how our country was designed. This is not what the founding fathers wanted. This is the opposite of that.” 
Daryn Swisher shared his opinion of the candidate. “I think she showed me that she’s not a bureaucrat from Washington. She still has her roots here in Alaska. This is refreshing,” he said.
Keith and Annie Conger had a different perspective. The two of them spoke to Peltola about their concerns about the proposed Graphite One mine near Imuruk Basin, a project that Peltola supported when she was Alaska’s Congresswoman. The Congers showed Peltola a video depicting the area and speaking out against Graphite One.
Annie Conger said that they didn’t have a chance to ask Peltola about her previous support for Graphite One, but that it felt like she was not listening. Conger expected Peltola to ask questions about how the mine might affect the region and the villages of Teller, Mary’s Igloo and Brevig Mission. “Like she was elsewhere instead of focusing on what our conversation was about,” said Conger.
 
Hannah Anderson said she showed up to the event without much doubt about who she would be voting for. “Totally supported everything she said, and I loved her comments,” said Anderson. “I very, very much agree with her in the stances that she talked about.”
Anderson said this election feels different than elections in the past. “I think this election is a do or die moment in this country,” she said. “I think things have gotten pretty ugly, and unless we vote now, do what we can, things are going to get a lot worse.”
The primary elections were held in Alaska on August 18. If Peltola places in the top four candidates for the Senate race, she will advance to the general election in November.