Rep. Mary Peltola, who is the Democrat seated in Congress on behalf of Alaska, is an automatic delegate for the Alaska Democratic Party as it heads to the national convention, which starts in Chicago on Aug. 19.
The state party joined all other 49 states, territories, and Washington, D.C. in voting formally to nominate Kamala Harris for president. The party announcement was made over the weekend.
But Peltola did not cast her vote, she told reporters this week. She doesn’t want to be involved in controversy, she said.
It calls into question whether Peltola will even attend the Democratic National Convention, even as her party’s highest elected and most prestigious official.
Normally, each state announces on the floor of the convention the state party’s vote. For Republicans, it was Gov. Mike Dunleavy who made the announcement at the Republican National Convention last month. Peltola would be the natural choice to announce her state party’s vote, which came after the national Democrats staged a coup against President Joe Biden and forced him out of the race on July 21.
But with Peltola not voting for her own party’s nominee, she likely will avoid going to Chicago, where she would not be able to keep away from reporters.
She has already said she is not voting for Donald Trump, but she is trying to salve over the awkwardness of supporting her party’s nominee. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will likely not be popular in Alaska in November, and being tied to them is not something Democrats in Alaska will typically do. The only elected Democrat who has repeatedly come out in support of Harris is Anchorage Assembly Chairman Chris Constant. The rest are staying in their foxholes.
This isn’t the first time Peltola has avoided a vote. From bathroom breaks to fishing expeditions, she has developed a record for not showing up when the voting was under way.
In 2023, she missed a vote that related to restoring the volume of the national Strategic Petroleum Reserve. She said at the time that she had to use the bathroom.
The record showed that Peltola was present to vote over the course of two days on multiple amendments on the bill that is key to America’s national security and energy independence. But in the end, she appeared to have lost interest and left work early.
In May, she skipped voting again when the U.S. House voted to reverse a Biden decision that had canceled oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and severely cut energy development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
Peltola would not vote on that piece of legislation, which passed without Alaska’s lone representative making her views known.
Peltola voted “present” on a resolution to restore Alaska’s right to produce oil and gas in congressionally approved areas of Alaska. But she wrote a memo to Democrat colleagues in the House earlier and asked them to vote “no” on the Alaska’s Right to Produce Act. She just wouldn’t cast a vote either way.
Peltola also hid out in rural Alaska rather than go to work and vote on the House bill that would require people to be citizens and show their identification before voting.
She didn’t show up to vote against Biden’s rewrite of Title IX protections for women athletes. She was busy smoking fish in Bethel.
Last August, Peltola was unavailable in the state when Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made his inaugural trip to Alaska. Instead, she went to a Democrat fundraiser in Colorado.
Peltola has a well-established pattern of skipping out on work. While serving on the Bethel City Council for three years, she missed 37% of the meetings, including 41% of the meetings in 2013.
The Alaska primary is underway now and will end at 8 p.m. on Aug. 20.
It’s one vote that Peltola is sure to not miss.
If I was an employer and had an employee who was not fulfilling her duties, i.e. not showing up for work, or skipping out at times when she needed to be there, that employee would be fired. I wonder if Alaska voters will fire this congress woman?
You are an employer. You are a taxpayer and your employees are the representatives you sent to represent you in the legislature.
And, I say fire them.
Not as long as RCV exists.
When he was serving in the Senate Nobama frequently voted “Present” rather than have to take a position that might hurt his image.
Thank you for concisely summarizing Mary’s habit of skipping the work so many voted for her to do. Now, here’s hoping the right people read this in dismay and realize again that they were lied to by the media et al. But this time, instead of the media, by Mary herself. Surely folks are getting weary of being assumed imbecilic to believe whatever they are told—”Biden is sharp, Kamala is suddenly a genius, Mary cares about Alaska…”
The vote was preordained. Nothing she could had done would had changed anything.
Who would not pick fishing over that?
Yeah sorry there GR, she better well be there and do her job representing us constituents and take a stand. Sounds more like cowardice on her part to me.
So since she went fishing, do we still have to pay her in your opinion, especially considering she is our ONLY representative and she could not be bothered to show up to work?
Oh and for the record, Mary basically telling Alaskans that their voice in congress is unimportant, spits in the face of Don Young and Ted Stevens who got a lot done for Alaskans.
Don Young didn’t. But, supposedly, she is continuing his legacy.
Just a few observations:
… “She doesn’t want to be involved in controversy” says volumes about her commitment and character trait (lack there of).
… Is this of her own volition or, is it sage advice from Daddy’s Little Princess?
… If she’s not attending the DNC Convention in Chicago, where does she plan to be? Washington-DC? Anchorage? Fairbanks? Juneau? Bethel? Or, on the river bank?
… If it’s fear related issue, traveling to Chicago with a astronomically high crime rate, she could always take a collection of the 174 Long Guns with her for personal protection. I’m sure, as a US Rep, she’s exempt from current laws and could potentially carry while in attendance.
… Based on the foto provided, maybe she’s planning to attend a Jenny Craig Institute function. Looks like the DC lifestyle has taken a toll and it’s due time!
… As for the potential need for bathroom break, I recommend a potential solution (Depends for Adults) that could potentially keep her on her post, completing her fiduciary duties on behalf of Alaska and Alaskans.
… Given her ‘unacceptable’ absences while on duty (aka: AWOL), whom exactly does she represent? … United States? Alaska? Alaskans? Or, simply just Mary-P (herself)??? I think a majority of voters can see thru the fraud – scam – manipulation that she clearly offers.
Peltola will be back in DC next year because of selfish Nancy Dahlstrom, the old lady who thinks she can beat Nick Begich. Don’t blame Mary Peltola. Nancy Dahlstrom is the real problem.
She took Lisa Lessons
The woman is on the tit of the taxpayer, with the puppetmsters pulling her strings.
“She was busy smoking fish in Bethel”
Are we sure that it was fish she was smoking?
Better fishing than doing anything else,
Doesn’t her campaign ads say she ran to continue Don Young’s legacy?
.
Now, I could be wrong, but I do not believe Don Young left a legacy of ignoring his duties as a Representative.
Her campaign ads also said she would represent Alaskans.
And something about family and freedom. But I’ve blocked it out.
So Peltola wants to avoid controversy by not voting ???
You shouldn’t be in this game lady .
I am not sure why they are even having a Democratic Convention. They have already ushered out Biden which I am not sure is legal,but then does anyone follow the law anymore? Your thoughts Suzanne and all.
What was done was quasi legal, but unethical as hell.