Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) was sworn in Tuesday as a member of Congress after she won a special election for Alaska’s House seat last month following the death of longtime Rep. Don Young (R) earlier this year. She vowed bipartisanship in some of her earliest remarks as a member of the House.
ALASKA DEMOCRAT HOPES TO CARRY ON DON YOUNG’S LEGACY OF BIPARTISANSHIP
Peltola’s victory in the special election was notable, as her predecessor held the seat for nearly 50 years as a Republican. Peltola flipped the seat in a race that was something of a test case for Alaska’s new ranked choice voting system, defeating the Frontier State’s ex-Gov. Sarah Palin, who was backed by former President Donald Trump, as well as Republican businessman Nick Begich III.
Peltola, who is Yup’ik Eskimo, is also the first Alaska Native to represent the state, as well as the first woman to win the seat. She will serve the remainder of Young’s term as she competes for a full term in November.
Alaska has a single at-large House seat, making Peltola the state’s only member of Congress. But the state’s senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both Republicans, joined her on the House floor for her swearing-in, as did numerous other House lawmakers.
In remarks to reporters following her swearing-in, Peltola told reporters that “it’s a tremendous honor” to serve Alaska in Congress.
“I recognize that I’ve been selected to fill Don Young’s seat, and I take that very seriously,” she said, saying she planned to carry on his record of service to the state.
Peltola told the Washington Examiner last month that she intends to uphold Young’s legacy of bipartisanship. She appears to have already taken a significant step to do so, retaining the late lawmaker’s chief of staff as her own.
The Anchorage Daily News reported Peltola hired Alex Ortiz, Young’s chief of staff, for the same role.
“One of the things that she’s really excited about is the possibility of one having continuity with the office, having a seamless transition as much as possible,” Ortiz told the outlet.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who joined Peltola for photographs after her swearing-in, congratulated her and quipped that “we haven’t had a mother of seven in a while.”
“I hope you have panoramic lenses,” Peltola joked about her family gathered with her.
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Two other new members of Congress, Republican Joe Sempolinski and Democrat Pat Ryan, who both won recent special elections in New York, were also sworn in on Tuesday.
