Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola, D-Alaska, speaks during a ceremony to light the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree on the West Front Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on December 3, 2024. She announced her plans to run for the U.S. Senate on Monday. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Former Rep. Mary Peltola announced Monday she’s running to represent Alaska in the U.S. Senate, looking to unseat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
The first Alaskan Native elected to Congress, Peltola said she’s focused on putting Alaska first and working against self-dealing in Washington, D.C. She said Alaska was once a place of abundance, but, “now, we have scarcity.”
“The salmon, large game and migratory birds that used to fill our freezers are harder to find,” she said in a video announcing her campaign. “So we buy more groceries, with crushing prices.
“It’s not just that politicians in D.C. don’t care that we’re paying $17 a gallon for milk in rural Alaska; they don’t even believe us.”
A former Democratic member of the state legislator won a special election in 2022 against former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to join the U.S. House. Peltola beat Palin again later that year in the regular election.
She lost her 2024 re-election bid by 3 points.
If she can defeat Sullivan in a state won by President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, it could swing the majority in the upper chamber back to Democrats. Politico reported that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer recruited Peltola to do just that.
Democrats must flip at least four Republican seats in the Senate to gain control. In addition to Sullivan’s seat, Democrats believe seats in Ohio, Iowa and Texas could be in play, NBC News reported.
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