Alaska Democrat U.S. Senate nominee Mary Peltola backed state tax proposals during her tenure in the Alaska House that would have imposed new income taxes on residents, years before making tax cuts a central part of her 2026 affordability plan.
Peltola, whose last name was Kapsner while she served in the Alaska House, joined five lawmakers in “closed door meetings” in 2002 to formulate a tax plan that included a 1.5 percent statewide income tax expected to raise nearly $300 million and a 1.5 percent statewide sales tax, along with separate increases on gasoline, alcohol, and cruise ship passengers, expected to raise another $200 million.
Peltola voted twice in 2002 for the statewide income tax, which would have required middle-income Alaskans to pay the highest rate.
A May 2002 Anchorage Daily News editorial criticized the proposal as the “misnamed Alaska Fair Tax,” saying it “hits the middle to protect the rich.”
Then in 2004, Peltola once again backed a statewide income tax, co-sponsoring a bill that would have required most Alaskans to pay an additional 15 percent to 20 percent of their federal tax bill to the state.
Peltola now claims she will “lower taxes,” writing that “Alaskans should be able to keep more of the money that they earn in their own pockets. That’s why I’ll fight to cut taxes for more than half of hardworking Alaskans.”
Peltola described President Donald Trump’s Working Families Tax Cuts as “damaging,” despite the legislation being promoted as the largest middle-class tax cut in history. Filers earning between $100,000 and $200,000 who claimed one of Trump’s signature tax cuts received an average tax cut of more than $1,250, while filers earning between $50,000 and $100,000 received an average tax cut of more than $815.
Peltola has made fishing a defining part of her political brand and 2026 Senate campaign, including a salmon-themed video game, a supporting super PAC called the Fish Family Freedom Fund, and a campaign slogan beginning with “Fish.” But during her first term in Congress, she did not sponsor a single fish-related bill, and across roughly a decade in the Alaska House, she introduced just one — a loan program allowing fishermen behind on their taxes to borrow money and repay it with interest. Peltola also missed 794 of more than 4,000 votes during five terms in the Alaska House and 22 Bethel City Council meetings; her campaign has said she took maternity leave while serving in the state House and, excluding excused absences, missed about six percent of votes.
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