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- By Native News Online Staff
The vice chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said last Friday that newly elected Rep. Mary Peltolo (D-AK) has her vote in the Nov. 8 midterm elections. Peltola beat 2008 GOP vice president nominee Sarah Palin in a special election to replace Rep. Don Young (R-AK), who passed away suddenly in March 2022 after serving Alaska in Congress for 49 years.
“I know that bothers some people who want me to be that rigid, partisan person, and I’m just not. … I do not toe the party line just because party leaders have asked or because it may be expected,” Murkowski said at the Federation of Natives convention according to the Anchorage Daily News.
When told of Murkowski's support, Peltola told the Washington Post: “I’m voting for her, so we’re even-steven."
Peltola, who is Yup’ik, made history because she is the first Alaska Native member of Congress, as well as the first Democratic woman to represent Alaska in the U.S. House of Representatives and only the fifth person to represent the state in the House since Alaska gained statehood in 1959.
Murkowski revealed her support of Peltola at the largest annual convention of Alaska Natives that make up 15 percent of the state of Alaska's population. The percent rises when mixed Natives are counted.
Peltola was sworn in on September 13, 2022 and will serve in Congress until the end of the current term. In spite of her late summer victory, she still has to run for reelection in the midterm elections. She faces Palin, as well as Nick Begich, in the election.
The good news is a poll released by Alaska Survey Research, Peltola has a 52 percent positive rating among 1,276 likely voters compared with 32 percent for Begich and 33 percent for Palin
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