Congresswoman Mary Peltola speaks to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Feb. 26, 2024. Such speeches are annual events for all three members of Alaska’s delegation to Congress.
“If we want to be cynical in our analysis, we could say that she feels safe — electorally, in Alaska — to take these positions,” said Forrest Nabors, chair of the political science department at the University of Alaska Anchorage. That’s Nabors’ cynical take — that Peltola is voting strategically, to win an election. It’s not his only theory.
Peltola, though, does not stick to the partisan script, on energy or the Southwest border. She voted, for instance, to denounce the Biden administration’s immigration policies, and to require the jailing of more unauthorized migrants. Peltola isn’t getting a lot of party pressure to stay in line, he said, in part because Congressional leaders are used to Alaska’s congressional delegation going its own way.