USA23 September, 20263 min read
The New York Times Reports Mary Peltola Shoved An Aide Amid Abusive Outburst Claims
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New York Times cites nine former aides alleging abusive outbursts, slurs, and a shove. Peltola's campaign disputes the allegations; Republicans Sullivan criticized, Murkowski defended her.
NYT allegations roil race
Mary Peltola’s Alaska Senate campaign faced turmoil after The New York Times reported that former aides described “angry and profane outbursts” and slurs, including the word “faggot,” alongside an incident in which they said she shoved an aide. The New York Times said its account was based on interviews with nine former staff members and “dozens of contemporaneous text messages and photos,” and it described demands such as requiring aides to feed live crickets to her family’s pet chameleon, Meatball. Alaska’s News Source said Peltola avoided reporters’ questions after a Wednesday town hall in Anchorage, and it reported that her spokesperson, Harry Child, said she “sometimes struggled to deal with her grief” after losing both her mother and her husband within a few months in 2023.
Dan Sullivan’s campaign framed the allegations as part of a broader record, with Nate Adams saying, “This article further highlights Mary Peltola’s disturbing track record.” Peltola’s campaign denied the slur allegation and said a staffer was bumped, not pushed, while it also disputed that any pattern of abusive behavior existed beyond what it described as grief-related difficulty.
Defenses and attacks
Sen. Dan Sullivan criticized Peltola’s alleged behavior as “very disturbing,” and he said he did not buy her explanation, while he characterized the issue as a “character issue.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski offered a defense, telling CNN, “I think there are many parts of it that I find inflammatory,” and she said the former congresswoman faced “pressure that is hard for anybody to bear.”
Harry Child said Peltola “treats her staff with respect and care,” and he argued that “Exaggerating and outright lying about moments from the hardest period of her life” is wrong.
Nate Silver dismissed the relevance of the allegations, writing that “most reasonably well-adjusted people would read this and feel pretty sympathetic toward Peltola rather than her annoying staffers.”
The Sullivan campaign and Republican figures continued to press the case, with Nate Adams calling the report a highlight of a “disturbing track record” even as Peltola’s team pointed to grief after the 2023 deaths.
Election stakes in Alaska
A Rasmussen survey showed Peltola tied with Dan Sullivan at 39% each among Alaska likely voters, and it showed Democrats backing Peltola at 73% compared to 59% for Sullivan among Republicans.
The Rasmussen survey also found 15% of Democrats backed Sullivan and 18% of Republicans supported Peltola, while “unaffiliated” voters split at 36% for Sullivan and 34% behind Peltola.
The Nov. 4 election pits Peltola against Dan Sullivan and two other Republicans, Dan J. Sullivan Jr. and Gerald Heikes, and it will use Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system.
The Alaska Watchman said that if neither Sullivan nor Peltola wins more than 50% in the first round, the fourth-place candidate will be eliminated and second-choice votes will go to the remaining candidates until one candidate has more than 50% or more votes than the other remaining candidate.
With six weeks left before Nov. 4, the Alaska Watchman framed the question as whether Peltola can keep Democrats from abandoning her after the New York Times report, while it noted that Peltola beat Sullivan 49.5% to 41.4% in the primary.