Nat Herz’s latest Northern Journal column does a good job summarizing the current parlor game among Alaska Democrats: What office will Mary Peltola pursue in 2026?
Herz details the pressure campaigns from the left, the hopeful remarks from political consultant Jim Lottsfeldt, and the strategic patience Peltola is showing after her 2024 defeat by Congressman Nick Begich. But Herz’s column leaves out some critical context, both on the national ambitions by Democrats for Peltola and the serious hurdles she would face in a Senate or governor’s race.
What Herz doesn’t say is that her possible run for Senate against Dan Sullivan isn’t just idle speculation. Behind the scenes, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is actively recruiting Peltola to challenge Sullivan. National Democrats have been quietly testing the waters in Alaska, commissioning polling to show Peltola a pathway and running a tsunami of negative ads against Sullivan well in advance of any campaign announcement. Schumer is said to be getting quite chummy with Peltola, leading the lamb to the slaughterhouse.
This is a standard playbook for Schumer: Soften up the Republican candidate and lower his favor abilities, try to coax a candidate with “star power,” and use national money to compete in a red state. Alaska is one of the few states where Schumer doesn’t need a Democrat to actually win outright. He just needs to make sure Republicans spend millions defending it.
But Schumer’s pitch ignores one stubborn fact: Dan Sullivan is no pushover. He’s won convincingly twice in a state where Republicans still outnumber Democrats two-to-one, and his cross-party appeal on military and veterans’ issues remains strong. National Democrats may be “salivating,” as Lottsfeldt put it, but local operatives know that unseating Sullivan would be a steep climb, even for Peltola.
Herz also tiptoes around one of Peltola’s key vulnerabilities: Her lack of work ethic is legendary.
Even when she was in Congress, Peltola had a reputation for being checked-out, skipping committee hearings and votes, and limiting her public appearances to friendly venues.
Since her defeat, she’s largely disappeared from the public stage, except for parades and curated social media posts. Her most high-profile event recently was serving as grand marshal of the Anchorage Pride Parade. That may or may not play well with the moderate voters she would need.
It’s the latest example of the political strategy that has worked for Peltola: Heavy reliance on symbolism, low emphasis on retail politics, or tough policy work. That may thrill DC consultants, but Alaskans are already starting to notice.
The truth is that Mary likes parades. She doesn’t like work.
Herz quotes Lottsfeldt floating the idea of Peltola for governor, positioning her as the frontrunner in a wide-open field.
But here’s a reality check: The labor money is now already locked up, with former Sen. Click Bishop — a seasoned, labor-friendly Republican — already in the race. Peltola may have establishment Democratic support, but Bishop will peel off labor votes, especially in Fairbanks and rural hubs where his name ID is strong.
One interesting theory circulating in political circles is that Bishop and Peltola could team up, with Peltola as the gubernatorial candidate and Bishop as lieutenant governor. It would be a bipartisan ticket tailor-made for Alaska’s centrist voters — but it would also risk pleasing no one, alienating conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans alike. It would be a ticket that would attract a lot of Big Labor money.
Alaska has already seen what a unity ticket that is beholden to Big Labor has done: Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallot tried it in 2014 and eventually flamed out.
Nat Herz paints a picture of a Democratic party eager for Peltola’s decision. What his column glosses over is the messy political reality: National Democrats want her for Senate, local consultants, that group of mercenaries at the state level, want her for governor, and her natural comfort zone seems to be parades and berry picking.
Add in a potential labor split in the governor’s race and the steep odds against unseating Sullivan, and it’s clear her path is far more complicated than Democratic insiders let on with Herz.
The question isn’t just where can she win?” It’s does she have the fire to do the job?
What “exactly” can’t be missed is Mary-P’s complete and udder lack of competence and skill-set necessary to fill this role. Dont ever forget her accomplishments from prior service, all of which, is … ZILCH!
For Alaskans, what and how would this dismal record change??? Most likely, nothing.
She lost me when she could not affirm Israel’s right to exist at the KTUU–Alaska Public Media debate. If a U.S. congresswoman cannot clearly condemn terrorism and affirm a Jewish state’s right to exist, she legitimizes extremism.
Considering how absent Nick Begich is from his constituents, besides a celebratory email trumpeting his vote for and the passage of the BBB. And Senator Sullivan has been nearly as silent in his dealings with constituents, never mind how bad all of his quotes about the feckless Biden are standing up to the test of time–but perhaps you don’t recall all of the times he chided and insulted Biden for not doing enough for Ukraine. It is hubris to assume that President Trump will be as popular in Alaska come the mid-terms as he was in 2024 and unfettered support for him by the current slate of congressional members may not be so helpful.
Maybe that’s because he’s doing his job and waiting until the August recess to return here to rub elbows with the rabble.
‘https://mustreadalaska.com/four-and-counting-congressman-begich-notches-fourth-legislative-win-with-veterans-land-act/
Nat Herz has zero journalistic integrity.
Chuckie may not be there at the beginning of his next term. The idiot from the Bronx may primary him out.
On perv parade, looking for fringe votes. Or, husband #5? Democrats are so hard up to find ANY good candidates left. Peltola’s near the bottom of the barrel, so Republicans should have a very good year in 2026.
Good observations in this column.
Conclusions about Peltola’s work ethic is telling. Mary’s ability to get engaged is poor and roughly the same as Governor Dunleavy’s.
Alaska needs to get in gear politically or we’ll wind up further and further down the road to ruin.
Geldhof is spot on. Peltola is a lazy*ss. Not what we need.
Bishop is no Republican! And he is a PFD thief!
Bishop will be destroyed during debates. He’s already retired for life.
It’s easy to be “ checked out” when you’re being run by others because of name recognition only.
Come-on man
The races in the United States that will be the most interesting are the ones where Musk will be involved. The America Party is being founded on the notion that when it comes to deficit spending there is no difference between the Democrats and Republicans.
Republicans, like Sullivan, that voted to increase our debt limit by $5 trillion will be targeted. One nearly needs to expose his history of supporting more, unsustainable debt since he took office. When Sullivan was first elected, in 2014, our debt stood at around $17 trillion. Under Sullivan’s incompetence, it is now at around $37 trillion.
We can’t afford this loser. We need a fiscal conservative to replace him.
Democrat strategy is to run fear ads against Sullivan until they can create another canidate.
I think you need to look at the data. Of the longest serving US Congress members, past and present, over 75% were Democrats.
If the Democrat Party hadn’t become what it is today, you might have a point. Sadly, today’s Democrat Party prioritizes platforms like sexual disfigurement of children, unrestricted late-term abortion, anti-capitalist social programs, encouraging government sponsored widespread illegal immigration and failing to prevent abuse of illegal immigrant children, putting financial support for illegal immigrants above the needs of US citizens, promoting anti-Second Amendment policies, abandoning merit based qualifications for manipulated diversity/equity/inclusion quotas, locking up Alaska’s oil/gas resource development, etc. etc.
Prominent Democrats like JFK, MLK, LBJ, etc. would be sickened by today’s Democrat Party. Hell… Even Bill Clinton thinks it’s weird to be incapable of defining what a woman is based on biological facts.
In fact, the only recent examples of Alaska Democrats winning election to national office over the past few decades are Mark Begich, whose election was manipulated by a fraudulent James Comey FBI investigation of Senator Ted Stevens, and Mary Peltola, whose election was aided by the RCV election scam and the Palin factor.
Of course, you have your opinion and I have mine – with them and $2.95 you can get yourself a cup of coffee. 😉