Mary Peltola
American politician (born 1973) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Mary Sattler Peltola[1][lower-alpha 2] (born August 31, 1973) is an American politician and former tribal judge serving as the U.S. representative from Alaska's at-large congressional district since September 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as a judge on the Orutsararmiut Native Council's tribal court, executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Bethel city councilor and member of the Alaska House of Representatives.
Mary Peltola | |
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Akalleq | |
Co-Chair of the Blue Dog Coalition | |
Assumed office May 24, 2023 | |
Preceded by | Jim Costa |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alaska's at-large district | |
Assumed office September 13, 2022 | |
Preceded by | Don Young |
Member of the Alaska House of Representatives | |
In office January 19, 1999 – January 19, 2009 | |
Preceded by | Ivan Ivan |
Succeeded by | Bob Herron |
Constituency |
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Personal details | |
Born | Mary Sattler (1973-08-31) August 31, 1973 (age 50) Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. |
Citizenship | United States Orutsararmiut Native Council |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouses | |
Children | 7[lower-alpha 1] |
Website | House website |
Mary Peltola on her support for S.5087, a bill to amend the Not Invisible Act of 2019 Recorded December 21, 2022 | |
A member of the Democratic Party, Peltola defeated former governor Sarah Palin and Alaska Policy Forum board member Nick Begich in an upset in the August 2022 special election to succeed Don Young, who died in March that year.[4] In doing so, she became the first Alaska Native member of Congress and the only Russian Orthodox,[5] as well as the first woman ever to represent Alaska in the House, the first person to have been born in Alaska to serve in the House, and first Democrat since Nick Begich Sr. in 1972. She was reelected to a full term in the regularly scheduled election in November 2022.[6] As of 2023, Peltola is the only Democrat holding statewide office in Alaska.