Rep. Mary Peltola posted online on X/Twitter about non congressional election matters on Tuesday during the most historic vote of the 118th Congress, when Speaker Kevin McCarthy lost his gavel after all Democrats voted with eight Republicans to strip him of his speakership.
But also today, Peltola encouraged Alaskans to vote in local elections. Not all local elections — just Juneau, Fairbanks and the Unorganized Borough elections.
“If you live in Fairbanks, Juneau, or outside of an organized borough – today is Election Day! Be sure to get out and vote or fill out your ballot at home by the end of today,” she said on X.
Peltola didn’t encourage Wasilla, Palmer, the Kenai Peninsula, or any conservative-leaning town to go out and vote, however.
In Congress, the vote to remove McCarthy was binding voice vote, and was the first time in history that such a move had been taken.
The clerk called out Peltola’s name once, twice and finally four times, but Alaska’s only representative was not there to say yes or no on McCarthy. She has missed hundreds of votes this year and now has the worst attendance in Congress by far, out of the 435 members.
Some of that is because Peltola’s husband died Sept. 13 in a plane crash. She has been in grieving ever since. But before the crash, she was already 12th from the bottom for showing up to vote.
Local elections in Alaska ended Tuesday at 8 pm in most jurisdictions, except for the Mat-Su Borough, which votes in November, and Anchorage, which votes in March-April.
