Peltola Gets the Fetterman Treatment

A Democratic candidate for Senate from Alaska, Representative Mary Peltola, could be joining her congressional colleague, Senator John Fetterman, in their party’s doghouse. The Times is out with a critical report about Ms. Peltola’s “political operation,” based on comments from staffers “who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation and to preserve their professional reputations.” The accounts echo similar criticism from Mr. Fetterman’s aides.Both cases involve Democrats who stray from their party’s orthodoxy. Ms. Peltola, elected to the House in 2022 after defeating a GOP rival, Governor Sarah Palin, emerged in her term in the House as what Alaska Public Media called “one of the Democrats most likely to vote against her party.” She backed bills, Alaska Public Media said, calling for “tougher enforcement of the southern border” and condemned President Biden’s handling of migration.Ms. Peltola, who left the House in 2025, favors Alaska’s oil industry and “was also among just 16 Democrats who voted with Republicans on a bill to prevent the Biden administration from withholding military aid to Israel,” Alaska Public Media reported. The Alaskan’s stance in favor of the Jewish state puts her, like Mr. Fetterman, at odds with what the senator calls the increasingly “hostile” posture of their party toward Israel. Though Mr. Fetterman has disclaimed, at least for now, any intention of switching parties, he has averred that “if our party ever becomes — and just makes it official — the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me.” Mr. Fetterman, too, recently made a video appearance at the GOP midterm convention at Dallas to put in a good word for his colleague in the upper chamber, Senator David McCormick.“What are you waiting for?” is the question these columns had for Mr. Fetterman, and the same query might apply to Ms. Peltola. The question could gain added resonance if it turns out that the Alaskan’s tendency to buck her party helped to animate the Times’ critical report. Ms. Peltola has, per the Times, “amassed one of the highest staff turnover rates on Capitol Hill.” A spokesman for Ms. Peltola insists that the solon treats staff “with respect and care.” The spokesman decries the Times’ reporting of anecdotal incidents involving staff members and “falsely presenting them as a pattern of behavior.” Similarly, Mr. Fetterman griped that the complaints about him stemmed from “disgruntled staffers” who were trying to damage his reputation. “Per usual — lies, half-truths, innuendos, smears and anonymous,” Mr. Fetterman lamented, adding that he was nevertheless “proud to continue to deliver for Pennsylvania.”Ms. Peltola, for her part, has presented herself as a centrist, urging voters to “shy away from the really extreme-type candidates and politicians.” The League of Conservation Voters has stressed her credentials as a “Yup’ik Alaska Native” and “a strong salmon advocate.” The highest praise for Ms. Peltola could well come from her former rival for the House, Ms. Palin, who after the election in 2022 called Ms. Peltola “a real Alaskan chick.”Following the Times’ report, at least one liberal has emerged in Ms. Peltola’s defense, the former mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio. He said that “if we ever needed more evidence that the Times props up the elite and the status quo, here it is.” Ms. Palin, the Alert Alaskan, has previously professed to “love” Ms. Peltola, with a caveat that could prove prophetic: “Doggone it, I never have anything to gripe about. I just wish she’d convert on over to the other party.”

Peltola Gets the Fetterman Treatment

Peltola Gets the Fetterman Treatment

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