Rep. Mary Peltola told a CNN reporter that she will make no endorsement for Kamala Harris for president.
“Rep. Mary Peltola, the congresswoman running in a tough reelection in Alaska, among the small number of Dems yet to endorse Kamala Harris,” wrote Manu Raju, a senior political reporter for CNN. To date, there are five Democrats in Congress who have demurred, as Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democrat nominee, may be unpopular with their constituents.
“As a human being I do support her. I do not make any endorsements, though, politically,” Peltola falsely told Raju. Last year, she endorsed President Joe Biden, while Republicans like Vivek Ramaswamy said keeping Biden propped up as a candidate was “elder abuse.”
Polling in Alaska shows that President Donald Trump is all but assured to win the state in what could be a landslide. Peltola is calculating that endorsing Harris would damage her brand and risk her own reelection campaign.
And yet, Peltola is a senior member of the Alaska Democratic Party nominating delegation and the delegation will vote in August for Harris as the party’s nominee. The state delegation, which includes Peltola, quickly already endorsed Harris on Monday, shortly after a national phone call among all state delegations, which have unanimously endorsed Harris immediately after President Joe Biden was said to have signed a letter saying he will not run again.
As of publication time, Biden has not been seen in public for six days. First Lady Jill Biden has also not been seen. President Biden is reportedly returning to the White House on Tuesday and is scheduled to speak to the American public from the Oval Office on Wednesday about why he dropped out of the race.
