Alex Ortiz, formerly chief of staff and longtime aide to the late Republican Congressman Don Young, has been pushed aside by Rep. Mary Peltola, after serving as her chief of staff since she was elected in September to finish Congressman Young’s term.
The official story is that Ortiz, raised in Ketchikan, is going to start a career in government relations and will assist Peltola as her campaign representative in Southeast Alaska, as well as doing outreach to Republicans on her behalf.
In his place, Peltola’s former campaign manager, Anton McParland, will be chief of staff when Ortiz leaves next week. He now serves as deputy chief of staff and is a Democrat.
The process of rotating Republicans out of her office comes as Peltola has gotten criticism from Democrats for hiring Ortiz as her chief of staff. Other Republicans she hired were Josh Wilson, who was her interim communications director, and Josh Revak, who is her stateside director. All are Republicans. Wilson exited in January, and now Ortiz is out, leaving just Revak as the last Republican on her staff.
McParland has a background as a union operative for Service Employees International Union and the National Education Association of Oregon, Illinois, and Virginia. Although he is not an Alaskan, he moved to the state to work on Peltola’s campaign last year and became her deputy chief of staff in January. He has brought a strong union messaging strategy to her office.
Ortiz was quoted in a statement saying, “The office is in good hands with a strong staff that is ready to serve Alaskans, just like Congressman Young’s team did. I am ready to pursue a new career in government relations and continue to build Republican support for Mary’s Pro-Fish, Pro-Family, Pro-Freedom, and Pro-Jobs agenda in 2024 and beyond.”
Translation: I’m as useless as any other Alaska GOPer and it’s my time to cash in.
Hogs gotta feed at the trough.
And this surprises anyone?
More correct Revak is a RINO.
Oops he forgot to add PRO Mafia and Pro RCV to Marys agenda in 2024
Who, which, what Republican would want to work for Peltola? Mary Peltola is an ignorant, radical leftist old woman. Democrats only need apply.
Let’s not forget:
1) she lied on her resume saying later she forgot that she did not graduate from college,
2) it took her one year to establish an office in Alaska saying falsely that no commercial property manager (in Alaska) would lease her office space for less than four years while Don Young’s former Anc office sat empty,
3) she does not support women veterans who cannot access satisfactory VA services and said renaming the Anchorage VA building after a woman veteran was “enough”,
4) she was not a fishing boat captain (as most understand that term) when she was 14 years old, and
5) is ignorant.
Beth, you know what else Mary Peltola is?
DUMB!
.
Again, another snafu by Sarah Palin.
.
NB3 in 2024.
Let’s be honest. Republicans choosing to work for Peltola are not really Republicans. However, that makes sense since most Republicans are not really Republicans anymore either.
Sorry, he seems like another RINO with his agenda that he spewed. Young had lost his ways and was as bad as Murk is now. ALASKA is turning blue because we can’t send intelligent conservatives to elected office. Look what a mess that our state senate is, as they want to bring a defined benefits package that was axed almost 20 years ago and we still owe billions to that.
Go deeper Trevor. Its not that “we can’t send intelligent conservatives to elected office.” Rather, it’s that we can’t send intelligent conservatives to the voting booth.
Going deeper yet, there are pitifully few intelligent conservatives left to even try sending to the voting booth. Hang on, the downward spiral accelerates.
Ray Charles could have seen this coming.
“ pick your four favorite animals in reverse order as to how much you dislike them…….see Johnny it’s really not that hard”
Revak is not a Republican any more than Lia Thomas is a woman.
So much for prior statements she made: “A former state legislator and fisheries manager, Peltola campaigned as a relentlessly amicable coalition builder. “I want to work with everyone and anyone who is a REASONABLE person to find solutions to Alaska’s challenges,” she said. “Support a regular Alaskan,” is the slogan. [Just don’t be a Republican on my staff, that won’t work.]
Peltola, who has cast herself as a coalition builder and called for more civility in politics, said partisanship “is the No. 1 threat to our country both in terms of foreign policy and domestic policy.” She said policy makers should work together on those issues. But she said there is “a tradition now in America of tearing one another down, just to get into office.”
Its likely uncommon for representatives to staff their office with members of the opposing party? We must surmise these so-called Republicans promised to act like properly obedient Marxists in order to work for her.
We need a new political party with true Alaskans with no lawyers or political attached persons. both current parties are one country club of what can we steal and how can we rule the commoners.
Meanwhile, we can’t even persuade conservatives to enter the voting booth.
So does Dan Sullivan have any democrats on his staff? If not, then how is this story newsworthy? Is it really surprising that a democrat would want people from her same party on her staff?
It’s evidently newsworthy enough for Peltola to put out a press release. – sd
I mean, compare that departure message from Alex to the one we all got from Amy Demboski!
I’d say it is newsworthy that not only is Peltola’s main point person in Alaska still a Republican, but she (or her team) is managing these sort of transitions far more smoothly than some other prominent elected leaders; despite doing so across party lines.
Thank you for your service Alex! You did a great job for Rep Young, and am sure added value for Alaskans while helping Mary transition to DC. Best of luck in private practice!
(I’ll view this far more suspiciously if Mr. Ortiz shows up in another legislative staff job a year from now… kinda like how Chief McCoy taking a Chief of Police job in Arizona after very politely declining to be associated with the Bronson administration any longer makes it look a lot worse now that it is 100% obvious that he still wanted to serve (just not this admin))
Second time I’ve seen you criticize something as not “newsworthy”, cman. That would be sad except you don’t have to come on a known conservative site and read it at all.
C’mon Cman. You must have more to opine about other that this lowly dribble. How are your comments worthy here at MRAK when everyone already knows what, and how, you think? Are you retired? Probably a former government worker?
You take up a lot of bandwidth for a left-winger Democrat drooling out loud at a conservative site. Slow days for you, I guess. Rest well. And be thankful that Suzanne runs a fair, newsworthy,
and open forum…….even to crusty old buggers like you. C’man, mon.
Dribble is what you do with a basketball. Drivel is nonsense.
This is what happens when you have a pack of girls running your state that are worried more about clicks then even their own future, much less anybody else’s future. It’s the definition of wicked and stupid at the same time
There are so-called Republican’s that work for Peltola? Personally, that is not something I’d want on my resume……
Republicans are as useless as democrats these days. Are you a conservative, moderate, liberal or progressive? Thats what matters. A Republican or Democrat title is just the name on the club house door, and that clearly means absolutely nothing.
Imagine being somebody who actually thinks Josh Revak is a republican?
I smell a dirty, stinking low-down, commie rat.
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