Former Democratic Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola is running for the U.S. Senate in her home state, launching a comeback bid to return to Washington just over a year after her loss to Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK).
Peltola announced her entry into the 2026 midterm election race on Monday morning, telling Alaskans she is running “to fight for fish, family, and freedom.”
“My agenda for Alaska will always be fish, family, and freedom, but our future also depends on fixing the rigged system in D.C. that’s shutting down Alaska, while politicians feather their own nest. D.C. people will be p***ed that I’m focusing on their self-dealing and sharing what I’ve seen firsthand,” Peltola said in her announcement video.
Peltola’s bid sets off a likely general election match-up between herself and incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), who is running for re-election for his third term in the U.S. Senate.
“They’re going to complain that I’m proposing term limits, but it’s time. Systemic change is the only way to bring down grocery costs, save our fisheries, lower energy prices, and build new housing Alaskans can afford,” Peltola said. “It’s about time Alaskans teach the rest of the country what Alaska first, and really America first, looks like.”
Peltola made history in 2022 as the first Alaska Native and woman to be elected to the state’s at-large House seat. After fulfilling the unexpired term of the late Rep. Don Young (R-AK), Peltola was re-elected for one full term in the House.
Before her time in U.S. Congress, Peltola served as a tribal court judge for the Bethel tribe and in the Alaska State House of Representatives.
Peltola’s bid marks a major win for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who had been recruiting her to take on Sullivan in the midterms. The moderate Democrat is seen by Schumer and Democratic leadership as a strong contender in general elections, gaining popularity across the state after electoral defeats against former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK).
Peltola has previously notched atypical endorsements for a Democrat, including from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and the National Rifle Association.
“I have just great respect and admiration for her. I think she has done a good job for all Alaskans. I admire her ability to stand up to the different political forces that are out there and just be guided by her own sense of what is right for Alaska,” Murkowski said of Peltola to the Alaska Beacon in 2024.
However, Murkowski is largely an anomaly among the GOP in her view on Peltola. The Senate Leadership Fund, which works to support a GOP majority in the Senate, called Peltola a “far-left” Democrat.
“Mary Peltola represents everything that is broken in Washington: A defeated career politician-turned-lobbyist who repeatedly voted against American energy independence, secure borders, and the Alaskan way of life. Democrats are desperately trying to revive a Far-Left politician, but Alaskans know why they fired Mary Peltola in the first place,” the Senate Leadership Fund said in a statement.
Since her 2024 loss to Begich, Peltola has been working fora lobbying and law firm Holland & Hart.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
