Politics
JUST IN: Dem Senate Candidate Embroiled In Major Scandal After Aides Come Forward
Several former staffers for Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola — a Democrat who currently holds a slight polling lead against incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan (D-AK) — have come forward to accuse their former boss of abusive conduct towards them, as well as frequent use of slurs.
The report was penned by Kellen Browning of the New York Times. It cited nine former staff members who requested anonymity out of concern for retaliation and professional reputations, along with more than 20 others familiar with her political work. It also noted that the reporter reviewed more than 100 screenshots of text messages and other images.
According to the report, former aides described angry and profane outbursts by Peltola, directed at staff or expressed about people who had displeased her.
One incident involved a physical confrontation in her congressional office in February 2024. Frustrated that she could not locate a memo for a meeting, Peltola shoved a male employee in the chest with one hand, causing him to stumble backward, according to a former staff member who was present, two others who were told about it at the time, and text messages sent contemporaneously. That staffer left the team not long after the incident.
The campaign denied that the contact was a shove. It stated that Peltola bumped the aide accidentally on the first birthday of her late husband after his death and that she was unfocused at the time.
The article also reported that four former staff members said they directly heard Peltola use the word “faggot” over the years, in some cases referring to her own staff members. The campaign denied that allegation. Former aides and text messages viewed by the Times also described her use of the word “retarded.”
One text message from this year, sent after a commercial fisheries executive posted a selfie with Peltola that created a political difficulty given her opposition to large-scale commercial trawling, read, “F**k that retard,” followed by “Honestly. I nothing him.”
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NYT: “Fuck that retard,” Ms. Peltola wrote this year in the text message, after a commercial fisheries executive posted a selfie with her that caused a political headache because she is opposed to large-scale commercial trawling. “Honestly. I nothing him.” https://t.co/22d7hTeCkY pic.twitter.com/DGZQES8b5B
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) September 24, 2026
The campaign said Peltola recognized that the word was inappropriate and regretted using it. The report noted that she sometimes used the phrase “nothing” someone as a form of dismissal, a usage drawn from the television show “Scrubs,” according to three former staff members and a viewed text.
Additional texts referenced in the report concerned Planned Parenthood. “I hope Planned Parenthood knows that if we don’t win it’s more their loss than ours. F**K THOSE BITCHES,” Peltola wrote in one message from January 2024, during her re-election campaign for Alaska’s at-large U.S. House seat.
Later that year, appearing to refer to a woman on the board of the local Planned Parenthood chapter, she wrote: “I hope she dies of a botched abortion.” Planned Parenthood’s political arm had endorsed her previous campaigns but did not endorse her Senate bid.
The report stated that Peltola’s demands could include having aides feed live crickets to her family’s pet chameleon, named Meatball. It also described low staff morale, with some aides becoming anxious and exhausted, according to viewed text messages, and others being driven to tears or discussing resignation.
A notable staff changed occurred last month, just before Alaska’s primary. Peltola’s campaign let go of Elisa Rios, a longtime adviser who had served as campaign manager, along with a deputy campaign manager and two contractors. Anton McParland, her former congressional chief of staff who had co-managed the Senate campaign, was also moved to a consultant role.
The campaign described the changes as staffing updates ahead of the general election. Two former aides told the Times the shake-up followed one of Peltola’s outbursts.
In response to questions from the Times, a campaign spokesman denied any pattern of abusive behavior. The campaign also disputed some specific descriptions of incidents while acknowledging regret over certain language in messages.
The report noted that Peltola’s displays of anger had not been previously detailed publicly to this extent.
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