Alaska Democrat U.S. Senate nominee Mary Peltola has made fishing a central theme of her political brand and 2026 campaign, but she did not sponsor any fish-related legislation during her first term in the U.S. House after taking office in 2022.
Peltola has made fish a defining part of her political brand: she created and promoted a salmon-themed video game called “Salmon Run;” a Super PAC supporting her is called the Fish Family Freedom Fund; and her campaign slogan begins with the word “Fish.”
But during her first term in Congress, Peltola did not sponsor a single bill about fish.
Her record in state government was similarly limited. Across approximately 10 years in the Alaska House of Representatives, Peltola introduced one fish-related bill — a loan program for fishers to pay their taxes. The measure effectively allowed fishermen behind on their tax obligations to borrow money and repay it with interest.
While serving in Congress, Peltola urged her Democratic colleagues to vote against the Alaska’s Right to Produce Act, a bill she co-led for Democrats that sought to reverse Biden administration restrictions on oil and gas development in Alaska, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Peltola had previously voted for the legislation in committee but ultimately voted “present” when it reached the House floor.
After criticizing politics in the Lower 48, Peltola left Congress and joined Holland & Hart, a law and lobbying firm, as senior director of Alaska affairs, where she made close to half a million dollars a year.
Republican National Committee spokesman Nick Poche told Breitbart News, “Mary Peltola sold out Alaskans to become a lobbyist; she urged her colleagues to shut down Alaskan energy; and now we know she doesn’t give a damn about fish. Everything about Peltola is fake; she’s a swamp creature fraud, and she should be ashamed to exist let alone be running for office.”
Peltola also had a record number of absences during her time in public office. Over 13 years in public service, her accumulated absences amounted to nearly three years of missed work. She missed 794 of more than 4,000 votes during five terms in the Alaska House of Representatives and 22 Bethel City Council meetings, according to records cited by Fox News.
A Peltola campaign spokesperson said she took maternity leave while serving in the state House and argued that, excluding excused absences, she missed about six percent of votes while continuing to advance bipartisan measures.
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