Mary Peltola looks back with a smile from her dog sled on a snowy spruce trail at dusk.

To Hell with Politics… Put Alaska First.

My Story

I’m Mary Peltola. I’m running for Senate because I’ve lived firsthand how government is failing Alaskans.

I grew up on the Kuskokwim, fishing salmon with my father. Buzzy and I raised our seven kids here and spent long summer days at fish camp. Fishing with family is where Alaskans learn life’s lessons.

Life is difficult here. Alaskans know that, and we know that we have to take care of each other. We know no one from the Lower 48 is coming to save us. In Alaska, we pitch in to bail out a stranger’s swamping boat. We know that the next swamped boat could be ours.

D.C. people were shocked that I prioritized going back to Alaska in July to help put up fish for our family. But Alaskans understand.

Mary Peltola at home in Bethel, smiling among family photographs and woven baskets.

Why I am fighting for Alaska.

Growing up, Alaska was a place of abundance. Now, we have scarcity. Many of our fish stocks and fish returns have been decimated. The salmon, large game, and migratory birds that used to fill our freezers are harder to find. So we buy more groceries, with crushing prices.

And I’ve got to tell you, it’s not just that politicians in DC don’t care that we’re paying 17 bucks for a gallon of milk in rural Alaska, they don’t believe us. They’re more focused on their stock portfolios than our wallets.

When they actually work together on something, it’s usually to help themselves.

Our delegation used to stand up to their party to put Alaska first. 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. There was a time when our delegation was known for being strong, tough – as Don would say – “small but mighty”. Lately, that sense of independence has faded, with more attention paid to partisan pressures and out-of-state interests than to Alaska’s unique needs.