AK-At Large: Mary Peltola (D)
Mary Peltola is a Yup’ik Alaska Native, salmon advocate, and Democrat who represented the Bethel region in the Alaska House of Representatives for 10 years.
She was born in Alaska and raised on the Kuskokwim River in Kwethluk, Tuntutuliak, Platinum, and Bethel. When six years old, she began fishing commercially with her father.
In college, she worked as a herring and salmon technician for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
At age 22, she began an internship with the Alaska legislature. That same year, she ran for office and lost. Two years later, married and pregnant, she won her election and began representing the Bethel region in the Statehouse.
As a lawmaker, she helped rebuild the Bush Caucus, which passed legislation and influenced budgets that improved lives in rural Alaska, under my tenure as chair. After leaving the legislature, she worked as manager of Community Development and Sustainability for the Donlin gold mine project.
She left the company after six years and joined the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. She served on the Orutsararmiut Native Council Tribal Court and the Bethel City Council, and on the boards of the Nature Conservancy, the Alaska Humanities Forum, the Alaska Children’s Trust, and the Russian Orthodox Sacred Sites in Alaska.
As a lifelong Alaskan, Peltola is adamantly Pro-Jobs, Pro-Fish, Pro-Family and Pro-Choice.
The above information was sourced from the candidate’s website.
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