Mary Sattler Peltola (born August 31, 1973) is an American politician and former tribal judge who served as the U.S. representative for from 2022 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as a judge on the Orutsararmiut Native Council's tribal court, was executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Bethel city councillor, and member of the Alaska House of Representatives. As of 2026, Peltola is the most recent Democrat to have won statewide office in Alaska.
Peltola was first elected to Congress in an August 2022 special election after the death of incumbent Don Young, defeating Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III in an upset. It was the first election to take place under the state's new ranked-choice voting system. Peltola was the first Alaska Native member of Congress, first woman to represent Alaska in the House of Representatives, first person born in Alaska elected to the House, and the first Democrat to serve as Alaska's representative in the House since Nick Begich Sr. in 1972.
Peltola was re-elected to a full term in 2022. She lost re-election in 2024 to Nick Begich III. She is the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in 2026, challenging incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.
Early life and education Born Mary Sattler, Peltola is Yup'ik from the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta in Western Alaska and German-American. She was born in Anchorage on August 31, 1973. Her Yup'ik name is Akalleq (). Her father was Ward Sattler, a German American from Nebraska. He moved to Alaska to be a pilot and teacher. Her mother, Elizabeth "LizAnn" Piicigaq Williams, is Yup'ik from Kwethluk, Alaska.
Mary Sattler grew up with her sister along the Kuskokwim River in the communities of Kwethluk, Tuntutuliak, Platinum, and Bethel. As a Yup'ik child, she began fishing with her father at the age of six. Her uncles taught her how to place nets to catch different kinds of fish. When she was 12, her father registered a boat in her name and she began fishing independently as a captain at 14. She traveled with her father while he campaigned for Congressman Don Young, later commercially fishing with her father during the summers.
Mary Sattler studied elementary education at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley from 1991 to 1993. She took courses at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Alaska Southeast, and the University of Alaska Anchorage from 1994 to 1998, but did not graduate. While she was in college, she worked as a herring and salmon technician for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
In 1995, Peltola won the Miss National Congress of American Indians pageant. She performed two Yup'ik dances during the competition and wore traditional clothing including a squirrel skin parka, wolf hair headdress, and mukluks as her regalia.
Early career In 1996, Peltola was an intern in the Alaska Legislature. Later in 1996, she ran for a Bethel region seat, losing to incumbent Ivan Ivan by 56 votes. She worked as the campaign manager for Ivan's challenger, Independent candidate Willie Kasayulie, in the general election. Peltola later worked as a reporter.
Alaska House of Representatives (1999–2009) In 1998, Peltola was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives, after a successful rematch against Ivan in the Democratic primary. She appeared on the ballot under her maiden name, though she was married to Jonathan Kapsner at the time. She was elected and reelected mostly without or with only minimal opposition. Ivan's return to challenge her in the 2002 primary was the closest contest she faced.
In the House, Peltola served on various standing committees including Finance, Resources and Health and Social Services. She helped to rebuild the Bush Caucus, a bipartisan group of representatives and senators who represent rural and off-road communities in Alaska. In 2004, Peltola criticized No Child Left Behind Act rules which would impede continuing the practice of administering tests in some western Alaskan schools in the Yupik language.
Peltola sponsored a law allowing teachers to be given exemption from jury duty if they work at schools which had failed to meet adequate annual progress. It was signed into law by Governor Frank Murkowski in July 2004.
Local offices (2009–2022)
Peltola worked as manager of community development and sustainability for the Donlin Creek Mine from 2008 to 2014. In 2010, after incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski lost her party's primary, Peltola helped run her successful write-in campaign.
Peltola was elected to the Bethel City Council in 2011, and served until her term ended in 2013. She was a lobbyist in Alaska from 2015 to 2017. After 2016, Peltola served as the executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. From 2020 to 2021, she served as a judge on the Orutsararmiut Native Council's tribal court. U.S. House of Representatives (2022–2025) Elections 2022 special
In August 2022, an Alaska's at-large congressional district special election was conducted under the newly established ranked-choice voting system to fill the seat of Don Young after his death. In the blanket primary there were 48 candidates and the top four finishers advanced to the general election.
Peltola was one of the four candidates advancing and the only Democrat. Al Gross, an independent in third place in the primary, dropped out of the ranked-choice runoff, leaving three candidates to compete in the ranked-choice runoff. The other two candidates were Republicans, former governor Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III. Gross endorsed Peltola and Republican Tara Sweeney after leaving the race. In the first round of ranked choice, Begich was eliminated. Peltola won against Palin in the final runoff.
2022
Peltola sought a full House term in the 2022 general election. She advanced to the general election in first place, receiving 36.8% of the votes in the primary. Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski, running for her fourth term in the U.S. Senate, told Alaska Federation of Natives Convention delegates that she intended to vote for Peltola as her top choice in the 2022 House election. Murkowski said: "I do not toe the party line just because party leaders have asked... My first obligation is to the people of the state of Alaska."
Ahead of the November 2022 election, Peltola announced endorsements from Don Young's daughters, Joni Nelson and Dawn Vallely, as well as from Don Young's former communications director Zack Brown and several bipartisan political figures. Various other friends and former staff of Don Young endorsed Peltola in a formal endorsement letter. Peltola, who received just under 49% of the vote in initial balloting, was declared the winner on November 23. She defeated Palin again with 55% of the ranked-choice vote. (Votes cast for her as the second-place choice on ballots of the eliminated third-place candidate, Nick Begich III, were added to her total.)
2024
The primary election was held on August 20, 2024. Peltola, along with Republicans Nick Begich III and Nancy Dahlstrom, emerged as the main candidates. After placing third, Dahlstrom withdrew from the race. The four candidates proceeding to the runoff were Begich, Peltola, Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe, and Democrat Eric Hafner.
On November 20, it was announced that Begich had defeated Peltola. In the first round, Begich received 48.42% of the vote against Peltola's 46.36%. After other candidates were eliminated, the final round resulted in Begich receiving 51.3% of the vote against Peltola's 48.7%, making him the winner.
Tenure
Peltola was sworn in as Alaska's U.S. representative on September 13, 2022. After her swearing in, Congress had an Alaska Native (Peltola), four Native Americans (Sharice Davids, Yvette Herrell, Markwayne Mullin, and Tom Cole); and a Native Hawaiian (Kai Kahele) serving simultaneously for the first time. During the 117th Congress, she was appointed to the House Natural Resources Committee and the Education and Labor Committee.
On September 29, 2022, the first bill sponsored by Peltola was passed through the House. It creates an Office of Food Security in the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bill passed the House in a 376–49 vote. During the 2022 United States railroad labor dispute, Peltola was one of eight House Democrats to vote against a bill that would impose a new contract on railroad workers; several rail unions were voting against it. She said she could not support a contract that did not include paid sick days. Peltola voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, passed in December 2022, a law protecting same-sex marriage and religious liberty. It also codified the recognition of interracial marriage as provided by Loving v. Virginia.
During the January 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election, Peltola supported House Democratic leadership. However, she said, "If there are members who want to form a coalition majority like we often see in Alaska, I'm open to discussing that. Anything that gets us communicating with each other rather than talking at each other would be a good thing at this point." In February 2023, Peltola announced that she had chosen Josh Revak, a former Republican state senator who was a competitor in the 2022 special election, to run her Alaska office. Peltola's congressional staffers included Republicans. Her chief of staff, Alex Ortiz, was chief of staff to her Republican predecessor Don Young. In April 2023, Ortiz left her congressional office to take a position with her campaign in Southeast Alaska.
In 2023, Peltola's office ranked second-highest in staff turnover for the U.S. House of Representatives, with a turnover four times the House average. After she joined the House in September 2022, much of her staff had been carried over from her Republican predecessor on a temporary basis. In 2024, she supported several Republican-led immigration and crime-related measures, including a bill to deport undocumented migrants who assault police officers. She voted to condemn President Biden's handling of the southern border. Her also backed legislation limiting the District of Columbia's authority over its sentencing laws.
In May 2024, Peltola introduced the Bottom Trawl Clarity Act and the Bycatch Reduction and Mitigation Act as a result of declining salmon returns in western Alaska and concerns about salmon bycatch in pollock trawling in the Bering Sea. If passed, the bipartisan bills would limit bottom trawling to designated areas and expand NOAA research in bycatch reduction.
Committee assignments
For the 118th Congress: Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
Caucus memberships Blue Dog Coalition Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment
2026 U.S. Senate campaign
Throughout 2025, Peltola was seen as being a possible contender for governor or U.S. senator for the 2026 elections. On January 12, 2026, Peltola declared her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan.