Mary Nelson
Mary Sattler Peltola (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.
Peltola defeated Republicans 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. It was the first election to take place under the state's new ranked-choice voting system. In doing so, she became the first Alaska Native member of Congress, the first woman to represent Alaska in the House, the first person born in Alaska to serve in the House, and the first Democrat elected to the House from Alaska since Nick Begich Sr. in 1972. She is also the only member who is Russian Orthodox.
She was reelected to a full term in the state's regularly scheduled election in November 2022. As of 2024, Peltola is the only Democrat holding statewide office in Alaska.
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