Mary Peltola, Alaska’s Democratic Senate hopeful and former state representative, has a history of absenteeism that may influence her campaign for the US Senate. Records reveal that Peltola, while serving in the Alaska House of Representatives, missed nearly 20% of votes and was absent from over a third of the Bethel City Council meetings during her tenure.
Between 1999 and 2009, Peltola missed 794 out of 4,265 state House votes, equating to 18.6%, as documented in legislative records. Additionally, during her time on the Bethel City Council from 2011 to 2013, she was absent for 22 out of 60 meetings, making up 36.67% of her absences, according to city records.
With these figures coming to light, Peltola’s dedication to her role is under scrutiny as she approaches Alaska’s impending general election, a pivotal contest that may sway the balance of power in the US Senate.
Nick Poche, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, criticized Peltola in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying, “Alaskans deserve an all-the-time workhorse like Dan Sullivan, not someone like Peltola who knifes Alaskans in the back when she even bothers to show up.”
The records indicate that Peltola’s attendance issues peaked during the 23rd Legislature between 2003 and 2004, where she failed to participate in 334 out of 1,019 votes in the Alaska House. Furthermore, city records highlight her absence from nine of 22 council meetings in 2013 and 11 of 32 in 2012.
Peltola has also faced criticism from conservatives for missing votes while serving in the United States Congress from 2022-2024, when she missed 235 of 1,370 roll-call votes, or 17.2%, according to GovTrack data.
In addition to missed votes, Peltola’s critics have pointed to her time in Congress not resulting in any bills or resolutions for which she was the primary sponsor becoming law, compared to Sullivan who has had several bills signed into law.
“She couldn’t even get a single bill signed into law,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) posted on X in January. “Now, she wants a promotion.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Peltola campaign spokesperson defended the absences, saying Peltola, a mother of seven, took maternity leave after giving birth to three of her children while serving in the state House.
The spokesperson added that, excluding excused absences, Peltola missed only about 6% of votes and continued to advance bipartisan measures throughout her tenure.
“Three of Mary’s children were born during her time in the state legislature and she took maternity leave. That didn’t stop her from working hard for Alaskans, from passing bills to improve public safety in rural Alaska to increasing Alaska energy production,” the Peltola campaign said.
The campaign also said Peltola spent summers at a fishing camp and that some city council absences occurred during fishing months or because of other council priorities.
Turning to Sullivan’s attendance record, the spokesperson said he has missed a significant number of votes and committee hearings, calling his absences “an insult to Alaskans” and saying that Sullivan has been “slacking off” missing fisheries subcommittee hearings.
Peltola announced her Senate bid in January to represent Alaska and unseat Sullivan, a two-term senator backed by President Trump and also advanced to the general election in November. She finished ahead of Sullivan in Tuesday’s primary.
Alaska’s unique election system uses a nonpartisan top-four primary, in which candidates from all parties appear on the same ballot, followed by ranked-choice voting in the general election.