Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola and members of her family suffered minor injuries in an overnight car crash, forcing her campaign to postpone several midterm election events.
Peltola and her family were on their way to the Alaska Federation of Natives’ annual banquet Saturday night when another vehicle collided with theirs.
“Mary and her family sustained minor injuries but are in good spirits,” campaign manager Cheryl Bruce said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, on the advice of medical professionals, Mary’s upcoming events in Fairbanks and Bethel will be rescheduled for later in the week while she takes time to recover.”
Peltola, 53, is running to unseat incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan in Alaska’s Senate race.
With just over a week remaining before the midterm elections, Peltola is reportedly “disappointed” that the crash has delayed the beginning of her campaign tour.
Bruce said Peltola is “eager to get back on the campaign trail to speak directly with Alaskans about her plan to take on the rigged system and lower costs for working families.”
Her campaign said the Fairbanks and Bethel appearances, scheduled for today and Monday, will be moved to later dates. The rest of Peltola’s tour is expected to proceed as planned.
Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola and her family suffered minor injuries in an overnight car crash, leading her to postpone several midterm campaign appearances
Peltola is seeking to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan for Alaska’s Senate seat
The contest for Alaska’s Senate seat remains highly competitive, with the Cook Political Report continuing to classify it as a toss-up.
Some other polls have shown Peltola with a narrow advantage, fueling Republican concerns that the traditionally ruby-red state could turn blue in November.
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The race has grown so contentious that President Donald Trump personally directed the Justice Department to sue Alaska in an extraordinary effort to block certification of the Senate results if Sullivan is defeated.
“I’m the one that said do it,” Trump told reporters Friday after arriving in Florida for a campaign rally, confirming his role in the lawsuit filed by his administration late Thursday.
The lawsuit seeks to stop Alaska from certifying the results of the November 3 Senate election under certain circumstances. It argues that voters could be confused by the presence of two candidates with nearly identical names.
Trump has accused Democrats of running a rival candidate named Dan S Sullivan Jr. in an effort to divert votes from the incumbent senator, Dan J Sullivan.
As he sought to bolster Sullivan in one of the country’s most closely watched midterm contests, Trump repeatedly branded Peltola “No Show Mary” and called her “a whack job.”
Sullivan has likewise focused heavily on portraying Peltola as inattentive to her public duties, claiming she missed “20 percent” of the votes held during her time in office.
The Republican has repeatedly criticized Peltola over her record, urging voters not to “give her a promotion” and pointing out that she failed to sponsor a single bill that became law during her congressional tenure.
Supporters of Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola gather outside an Anchorage, Alaska, venue where the candidates debated earlier this month
Records show that Peltola missed almost one of every five votes while working in the Alaska House of Representatives and also as a member of Congress in DC.
Peltola did not participate in more than 18 percent of state House votes between 1999 and 2009, Fox News reported. She also missed more than 36 percent of meetings as a Bethel City Council member between 2011 and 2013, city records reveal.
As a congresswoman in DC between 2022 and 2024, the Alaska Native missed more than 17 percent of 1,370 roll-call votes, GovTrack data shows.
But Peltola’s team has accused Republicans, including Trump and Sullivan, of ‘shamefully twisting her family tragedy to score political points.