Rep. Mary Peltola has seen a lot of turnover in her office since her first swearing-in last September. She has rid her staff of almost all registered Republicans, although the legacy media lauded her for her bipartisan staff during her first few weeks in office.
But one Democrat has stuck with her and has risen to the top of the heap: Anthony (Anton) McParland. He’s her chief of staff and her campaign manager.
McParland came from the union organizer world and shapes Peltola’s daily pro-big-union messages. He had never worked in Congress before, but McParland took over as chief of staff, after Peltola let go of Alex Ortiz, who had been Congressman Don Young’s chief of staff, departed.
McParland worked for Service Employees International Union and the National Education Association. He was a Democratic Party organizer in Oregon, Illinois, and Virginia. He moved to Alaska last August to run Peltola’s campaign, and he does not show up on Alaska voter rolls.
Peltola has arguably one of the most politicized offices in Congress, with her chief of staff also running her reelection campaign, calling into question whether McParland can really separate the two different roles.
According to GlassDoor.com, the average chief of staff in Congress makes $140,000 to $190,000 per year. On top of that, Peltola’s campaign has been paying McParland over $1,700 every two weeks for campaign services, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Congress allows staff to work on political campaigns on their own time, but there’s a cap on how much can be paid. To work on campaigns inside of federal facilities is a violation of the Hatch Act, and there are different rules for campaigns than there are for official duties on behalf of a congressional representative — things like accepting free meals.
Five have left Peltola’s office this year. Besides Ortiz, others include Paula Conru, Josh Wilson, Mark Black, and Claire Richardson.
Peltola’s current staff is listed as: Simone Auger, Logan Basner, Sam Erickson, Tyson Fick, IntiMayo Harbison, Samuel Hiratsuka, Bre Klayum, Emily Larsen, Anton McParland, Lauren Noland, Elizabeth Othmer, Josh Revak, Renee Royal.
