Politics
Mary Peltola's past voting attendance becomes campaign issue in Alaska Senate race
Republican opponents scrutinize the Democratic candidate's legislative and municipal attendance records as she challenges Senator Dan Sullivan.
The short version
- Records show Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola missed 18.6% of Alaska House votes from 1999 to 2009 and 36.67% of Bethel City Council meetings from 2011 to 2013.
- Republican groups have criticized her attendance record during her state and federal service as she advances to the general election against incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan.
- Peltola's campaign defended her record, citing maternity leaves following the birth of three children and pointing to excused absences and summer fishing obligations.
Key facts
- Legislative records show Peltola missed 794 of 4,265 Alaska House votes (18.6%) over five terms between 1999 and 2009.[Fox News]
- Bethel municipal records indicate Peltola was absent for 22 of 60 city council meetings (36.67%) between 2011 and 2013.[Fox News]
- During her tenure in the U.S. House from 2022 to 2024, Peltola missed 235 of 1,370 roll-call votes, or approximately 17.2%, according to GovTrack data.[Fox News]
- A Peltola campaign spokesperson stated that she took maternity leave after delivering three children during her state legislative tenure and argued her unexcused missed-vote rate was roughly 6%.[Fox News]
- Both Peltola and incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan advanced from Alaska's top-four primary to the November general election.[Fox News]
What remains uncertain
- The exact proportion of missed votes officially categorized as excused versus unexcused across Peltola's legislative tenures was not independently verified beyond campaign statements.[Fox News]