Mary Peltola, an American politician who was born on August 31, 1973, has been elected to represent Alaska’s at-large congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. From 1999 through 2009, she represented Anchorage in Alaska’s legislature. She began her term representing the 39th District but switched to the 38th District in 2003.
Peltola was predicted to win the special election held on August 31, 2022, to finish out the remaining two years of U.S. Representative Don Young’s tenure. With her victory, she will make history as the first Alaska Native member of Congress, the first woman to represent Alaska in the House, and the first Democrat to represent Alaska in the House since Don Young won a special election to succeed Nick Begich in 1973. To be clear, she is running for election in the upcoming 2022 midterms.
Mary Peltola Early Life
An Inupiaq, Peltola entered the world on August 31, 1973, in Anchorage, Alaska. Her dad, pilot, and businessman Ward H. Sattler campaigned for the Alaska legislature three times without success in 2004 and 2006. Peltola is the youngest of ten children. She spent her childhood in several different villages, including Kwethluk, Tuntutuliak, Platinum, and Bethel.
She worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as a herring and salmon technician while she was in school. Peltola attended the University of Northern Colorado from 1991 to 1994, and then continued her education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks from 1994 to 1995, the University of Alaska Southeast from 1995 to 1997, and the University of Alaska Anchorage from 1997 to 2000, all in the field of elementary education (1997 to 1998).
Mary Peltola Personal Life
Gene Peltola, the director of the Alaska Regional Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is Peltola’s husband. Peltola is the director of the Alaska Regional Office. She is a mother to four children; two were born in her first marriage to a pilot named Jonathan Kapsner, and the other two were born in her second marriage to a lawyer named Joe G. Nelson.
Mary Peltola’s Net Worth
Mary Peltola has a net worth of approximately $4 million. Her success as a politician and businesswoman provides the bulk of her income. Mary Peltola earns more than $1 million a year between her pay as a representative and her other career earnings. In the United States, she is among the top politicians in terms of both wealth and power. She now affords the finery of expensive automobiles and travels in luxury thanks to her thriving professional life.
Mary Peltola’s Career
In the 1998 Democratic primary, Peltola defeated incumbent Ivan Martin Ivan of Akiak and was subsequently elected to the Alaska House of Representatives. While she had been married to Jonathan Kapsner for some time, she used her maiden name when casting her vote. She was elected and reelected repeatedly with little to no competition, with Ivan’s return to oppose her in 2002 primary being the closest struggle she had.
While in the House, Peltola was a member of the Finance, Resources, and Health and Social Services committees. She also helped revitalize the “Bush Caucus,” a bipartisan coalition of Alaska’s state representatives and senators who advocate for the state’s rural and remote regions. For eight years, she presided as chairwoman of the Bush Caucus. The bills that Peltola sponsored to improve school security, fisheries, inhalant misuse, and judicial districts were passed with his support.
Once Peltola left Congress, he took a job with Donlin Creek Mine as the company’s manager of community development and sustainability. She was given a four-year term on the Bethel City Council after being elected in 2011. In addition, she has worked as a judge for the Orutsararmiut Traditional Native Council. From 2015 to 2017, she worked as a state lobbyist for her own company, Sattler Strategies. Peltola has headed up the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission since 2017.
In the June 11 primary for Alaska’s at-large congressional district in 2022, Peltola was one of the three remaining candidates out of the original 50. Peltola was the only Democratic candidate to make it to the second round. After independent candidate Al Gross withdrew from the runoff, former governor Sarah Palin and her running mate, Nick Begich III, were the only surviving Republican candidates.
To no avail, three Alaskan voters filed a lawsuit asking that Republican Tara Sweeney, who finished fifth in the primary, be allowed to participate in the runoff. Sweeney dropped out of the race once the charges were dismissed. On September 13, 2022, Peltola will be sworn in as the U.S. representative for Alaska after winning the ranked-choice runoff election over Palin and Begich.
Democrat Mary Peltola Wins Special U.S. House Election
The results of Alaska’s first ranked-choice election, held on Wednesday, showed Democrat Mary Peltola as the clear victor in the state’s special U.S. House contest. If certified, she will become the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress. After ballots were counted and votes for third-place Republican candidate Nick Begich III were transferred to his supporters’ second preferences, Peltola ultimately won the election and defeated Republican former Gov. Sarah Palin. Former Yup’ik state legislator and current resident of Bethel, Peltola will make history as the first female to represent Alaska in the United States House of Representatives.
She is poised to succeed Republican U.S. Representative Don Young, who has served in the position for over half a century — that is, since before Peltola was born — if the results are validated by the state review board later this week. In March’s aftermath of Young’s passing, a special election was called. Following the live video announcement of results by state election authorities in Juneau, Peltola commented, “I feel like I need to catch my breath for a minute.” At his campaign’s Anchorage headquarters, Peltola was greeted by members of his family and his team.
What matters most is that I am a native Alaskan assigned to speak for the entire state. She admitted, “Yes, being Alaska Native is part of my ethnicity, but I’m much more than my race. It’s a surprising turn of events overall. If elected, Peltola would be the first Democrat to serve in Alaska’s three-person congressional delegation since U.S. Sen. Mark Begich was defeated for reelection in 2014. And she did it by beating out two Republican opponents. Nearly 60% of all first-place votes went to Palin and Begich, the nephew of Mark Begich and grandson of former U.S. Rep. Nick Begich.
To fill the remainder of Young’s term, which ends in January, a special election was held on August 16. The mail-in ballots have been counted over the previous two weeks, and the ranked-choice standings were published on Wednesday. The individual who wins the seat in the next November election will serve for the entire two-year term that begins in January.
Results were announced on Wednesday, and Peltola, Palin, and Begich all stated that they will continue to campaign until November. Compared to Palin’s 30%, Peltola received 39.7% of first-choice votes. Peltola won the quick runoff with 91,206 votes to Palin’s 85,987, or 51.47 percent to 48.53 percent. Election authorities have not finished tallying a tiny number of ballots, but these votes are unlikely to materially alter the outcome.
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