Peltola ties congressional loss to ‘timing and luck,’ and eyes future plans with a laugh

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, the Alaska Democrat who was one of a handful of incumbents who lost their U.S. House seats in November, looked back Wednesday on her loss by less than three points to Republican Nick Begich III. She said she faced political headwinds this year that she hadn’t in 2022.

“I have always known that electoral politics is about timing and luck. Two years ago, timing and luck were very much in our favor. We had the wind and the current and the time all pulling in our favor. This time around, it was not in our favor,” Peltola said in a phone interview Wednesday with the Anchorage Daily News.

In 2022, Peltola won a special election to replace Republican longtime Rep. Don Young, a family friend who had died after 49 years in office. In winning, she was part of a 2022 midterm cycle marked by Democratic strength across the country. The recent election, on the other hand, saw President-elect Donald Trump surge to victory amid lackluster support for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

In Alaska, Trump had a better showing this year than in 2020. Harris underperformed compared to President Joe Biden’s 2020 showing. Even so, Peltola significantly outperformed Harris.

“When you realize that Alaska voted for Trump by 14 points … and my opponent won by three points, you can’t say that there aren’t successes within the overall election results,” said Peltola.

“If Alaska had just voted for Trump by 11 points, I would have won,” Peltola later added.

Peltola’s chief of staff Anton McParland said there “were national currents that were very difficult to overcome,” referring to a presidential race shaped by the departure of President Biden.

Peltola and McParland described the June presidential debate — in which Biden’s poor performance ultimately led him to drop out of the race — as a moment of realization.

“I watched that debate and I said, ‘Well, it’s going to be a miracle if we’re able to pull this off,’ and we weren’t,” said Peltola.

Peltola refrained from criticizing Trump during the election cycle, and has not publicly commented on his Cabinet nominees. Alaskans have largely embraced Trump’s pro-resource development agenda. But McParland said he relayed some concern over Trump’s strategy in his first term to Begich’s incoming staff members.

“Whilst it was more friendly to resource development projects, they were often approved in a somewhat haphazard way, and as a result, because all the T’s weren’t crossed and the I’s dotted, to some extent that process actually pushed some of these projects back in their timeline significantly,” said McParland.

Peltola said Wednesday that she stands by her decision not to endorse Harris, who replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket. Peltola had previously endorsed Biden.

“I feel that I did everything within my power — every day, not just within the campaign — to be as apartisan as a person could possibly be,” said Peltola. “I stay away from fomenting language, I stay away from divisive language.”

Peltola described the latter stage of her campaign against Begich as “a really unfortunate media experience,” in which Alaskans were subjected to “extreme negativity” in campaign ads.

“We only went negative after $7 million had been put to attack ads against me,” said Peltola. The amount of money at the disposal of both candidates and their supporters made it difficult to ultimately refrain from negative ads, she said. “I think Mother Teresa would have had a hard time with $13 million in Alaska’s media market, winning an Alaska statewide race.”

Peltola said she’s happy to be returning to Alaska after her term ends early next year. In the meantime, she and her staff have been working from a cubicle and makeshift offices as the House votes on end-of-year spending packages and other legislation. Peltola was asked by House leadership to vacate her office days after her loss became apparent.

In Alaska, Peltola’s home is in Bethel, where prior to her congressional term she served as the leader of an intertribal fish commission. Her late husband, Buzzy Peltola, who died in a plane crash a year after she took office, had a home in Anchorage. Peltola said she planned to continue living in both communities.

“I am very, very happy to be going home to Alaska, and I am very happy at the thought of having a personal life and a private life again, and spending more time with my kids, and doing the things that I feel compelled to do for my family without being criticized for those things,” said Peltola.

Asked if she planned to remain involved in Alaska politics, Peltola answered with a joke.

“In 2026 I intend to run for Alaska governor, for U.S. senator and Alaska U.S. congressman,” said Peltola. “And we’re going to run for Bethel mayor and tribal chief. I’m running for everything.”

The 2026 election year will indeed be a banner year for statewide races in Alaska: Gov. Mike Dunleavy will be term limited from seeking reelection, making way for an open gubernatorial race; U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan will be up for reelection; and Begich will face his first election as an incumbent. Pressed on her future plans, Peltola declined to provide additional details on which race, if any, she would enter.

“I’ve never been somebody who looks at my life as a career arc. I have tended to take opportunities as they came, and I’m pretty sure that’s what I’ll be doing in the future,” Peltola said. “I know that I will always work for Alaska and Alaska’s interests and Alaskans, but I don’t know in what capacity I’ll be doing that.”