Native Vote 2026
About 150 Alaskans joined U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola (Yup’ik) and community leaders Thursday at a rally focused on political reform, government accountability, and reducing the influence of special interests in Washington, D.C.
During the event, Peltola called on the Alaska State Legislature to pass 12-year term limits for Alaska’s federal delegation, arguing that Alaskans should take the lead where Congress has failed to act.
“If we want to lower costs and protect our state, we need to root out self-serving DC politicians that are putting special interests before Alaskans,” Peltola said. “Congress has consistently failed to pass term limits, but Alaskans don’t wait on DC to deliver results. Our elected officials need a deadline to deliver, and that’s why I’m calling on the Alaska State Legislature in Juneau to join us in the fight to fix the rigged system.”
Under Peltola’s proposal, Alaska lawmakers would enact 12-year term limits for members of the state’s federal delegation. The plan would also include a provision allowing current officeholders to serve one additional term after the law takes effect.
According to the campaign, 84% of Alaskans and 83% of Americans support congressional term limits, despite repeated failures in Congress to advance federal legislation on the issue.
Addressing the crowd, Peltola said Alaskans cannot rely on Washington politicians to solve the state’s economic challenges.
She told supporters that “no one from the Lower 48 is coming to save Alaska and DC isn’t going to fix itself,” arguing that Alaskans must challenge a political system she said is driving up costs and hurting the state.
Peltola also renewed calls to ban congressional stock trading, reduce the influence of money in politics, and crack down on self-dealing by elected officials.
She framed the reforms as part of a broader effort to lower costs for families, restore Alaska’s fisheries, and “make Alaska a place of abundance again.”
