Why GOP Rep. Don Young's Staff Back Dem Mary Peltola Over Sarah Palin
Category: News & Politics
Via: kavika • 2 years ago • 16 commentsBy: Bryan Metzger (Business Insider)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, the late Republican Rep. Don Young, and former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call and Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images Redeem now
- Some of Alaska Rep. Don Young's former staffers are backing Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat.
- They say she'll carry on the long-serving Republican's legacy better than Sarah Palin or Nick Begich.
- Several of them are raising money for Peltola and have signed onto an endorsement letter.
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Just two months after scoring an upset victory over former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in a special election for the state's sole House seat, Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola is about to face voters once more.
But this time, she's doing it with the public backing of several former staffers and long-time associates of Don Young, the Republican congressman who held the seat for 49 years until his death in March.
Former staff and friends have signed a letter — which was shared with Insider and released after publication on Friday — urging Alaska voters to give the congresswoman a full, two-year term, highlighting Peltola's "commitment to running a positive race, bipartisan approach to public service, and legislative priorities that put Alaska at the forefront."
Their endorsement also notes Peltola's short but productive legislative record — the Alaska Democrat has introduced 8 bills previously put forward by Young and already passed a bill tackling food security for veterans despite serving for just a few weeks — as well as her support for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which the late Republican congressman backed despite pressure from party leadership and former President Donald Trump.
—The Delegation (@AKDelegation) October 21, 2022
"I think that [Young] would be supportive of her," said Meredith Kenny, a former communications director for the congressman, in an interview with Insider. "And that's enough to make my heart happy."
Equally revealing is what some staffers, who generally identify as Republican or right-leaning independents, had to say about Palin and Nick Begich III, Peltola's conservative opponents.
"Palin and Begich are really more focused on their political careers before policymaking," said Zack Brown, Young's most recent communications director, adding that supporting Peltola is about "making sure that there's an actually effective legislator in the seat."
Republican candidate Nick Begich emerges from a voting booth in Anchorage, Alaska on August 10, 2022. AP Photo/Mark Thiessen
Pamela Day, who served as Young's chief of staff until 2020, cast Palin and Begich as people who were "looking at this as an opportunity to become a loud voice amongst many other loud voices."
"I don't think she's looking for a platform to be a celebrity," Day said of Peltola.
Staffers' reservations about Palin, the GOP's 2008 vice presidential nominee whose resignation as governor the following year has left a sour taste in many Alaskans' mouths, largely mirror broader concerns that voters have expressed about her: that she's simply seeking the spotlight.
One staffer also pointed out that Palin and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska don't exactly have the best working relationship, given the former's support of a primary challenger against the latter in 2010. When Insider asked Murkowski about Palin's upstart campaign earlier this year, she made a point of demurring and highlighting other candidates.
But it's more personal with Begich, the nephew of former Democratic Sen. Mark Begich and a one-time friend of the late congressman.
The Republican congressional candidate spent about a month in Washington last year working for Young and his staff, ostensibly for the purpose of understanding the legislative process.
But then he turned around and launched a campaign against Young in October 2021, before the congressman's death.
"It was just such an invasion of our goodwill and the Congressman's goodwill," said one staffer who requested anonymity to speak candidly. "We were completely hoodwinked and betrayed."
"I don't care for Nick Begich. From what I know of him, he is dishonest and disingenuous, and I can't support someone like that," said Kenny, who served from 2005 to 2011, long before the incident.
"I'm sure if he was the member who was elected, it would be fine," she offered.
'A lasting impression'
Peltola's surprise victory in August — a product of the former Alaska state representative's unique "pro-fish, pro-choice" campaign and the state's newly-implemented ranked-choice voting system — might have initially seemed to be a fluke.
But Young staffers noted that the long-serving Republican often took positions that clashed with the priorities of party leadership, including his relatively high support among organized labor.
And Peltola is no standard-issue Democrat; she is supportive of Alaska's oil and natural gas industry, is friendly with Palin, helped run Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski's 2010 write-in campaign, and is even explicitly declaring that she hopes to "carry on" Young's legacy.
"I think it's no coincidence that Alaska's longtime pro-weed, pro-labor congressman has now been replaced by a Democratic congresswoman who is a member of the NRA and is open to a lot of traditional energy extraction," said Brown.
Another positive attribute touted by former staffers — both in interviews with Insider and the endorsement letter — is Peltola's hiring of former Young chief of staff Alex Ortiz, which they say will "ensure continuity on Alaska's legislative priorities."
In a recent interview with Roll Call, Ortiz said that while he remained a Republican, he was personally impressed by his new boss. "I would not work for any Democrat that came down to DC," he said.
"That stands out a lot," Day said of Peltola's hiring decisions, likening it to the "lively debate and different opinions" that she said existed in Young's office. "I know that there were staff over the years that didn't agree with him on everything. I didn't agree with him on everything."
Next week, over a dozen members of "Youngworld" will hold a virtual fundraiser for Peltola, dubbing themselves "Friends of 2314" — a reference to the number of the office space on Capitol Hill now held by Peltola, and for years before her by Young.
And some are even set to appear in an upcoming television advertisement for the congresswoman.
A flier for the "Friends of 2314" fundraiser for Peltola, set to be held on Wednesday, October 26. Courtesy/Zack Brown
Despite the state's long-time conservative slant, outside election watchers generally rate the upcoming election as a toss-up; Sabato's Crystal Ball even says Peltola is slightly favored to win.
Staffers also said that Young would've appreciated that Peltola is a member of the Yu'pik tribe, and that he'd expressed hope that an Alaska Native woman succeeds him in office.
"So many Alaska Native women have positions of power in the state," said Day. "And I think that made a lasting impression on him."
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May she win and have the courage, and grace of Elizabeth Peratrovich.
boo hoo hoo, everybody in alaska hates sarah... too bad...
Didn't Sarah P., desert Alaskans and Alaska for Arizona. The contrast in state character is distinct.
as is the contrast of intelligence between the candidates.
Let's hope that Peltola wins, devan.
She did and now she is back. I guess AZ didn't want her.
Exactly, what responsible Americans leave their elected position to run for VP whan a Presidential Candidate asks them to?
She resigned as Governor of Alaska on July 5th or 6th 2009 and was selected by McCain as his running mate on August 29th 2008.
You’re right, I guess that I can’t trust my memory as much anymore, thanks.
This is good. We need someone who can support major democratic party policy initiatives, even a democratic party majority. While I do no know or follow Alaska politics or politicians generally, now that I know of her I will keep up with her 'progress.'
And yes, I like that she is a bridge spanning republicans and democrats together.
Yereth Rosen
Alaska Beacon
The first Alaska Native to represent the state in the U.S. Congress got a hero’s welcome on the opening day of the Alaska Federation for Natives convention, where she was greeted with standing ovations, given thunderous applause and hugs, showered with praise and gifts, celebrated with signs emblazoned with her image – and presented with one special token connecting her to her iconic predecessor.
Joni Nelson, the elder daughter of the late U.S. Rep. Don Young, draped around the neck of new U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola: the Alaska flag bolo tie worn by the 49-year congressman.
“Now I’m a real congressman for all Alaska,” said Peltola, echoing Young’s longtime campaign slogan.
Peltola, who is Yup’ik and from the Bethel region, won a special election in August to replace Young, who died in March. Though Peltola is a Democrat and Young was a Republican, their families were close and Peltola is pledging to carry on with Young’s legacy of bipartisan collaboration and accomplishment.
Young’s daughters proclaimed their own support of Peltola.
“I’m so proud of Mary Peltola,” said Young’s younger daughter, Dawn Vallely. “My dad would be very happy with the results of the special election.”
Much of Peltola’s speech was connected to the theme of this year’s AFN convention: “Celebrating Our Unity.”
Unity is fundamental to Native cultures, she said.
“It’s through this inherent understanding that we cannot get anywhere alone. It’s through sharing, and sharing on every level: sharing food, sharing love, sharing encouragement, sharing knowledge, generation to generation to generation. This sharing is just inherent, it’s intrinsic. It’s the pillar of our success and our survival,” she said.
(Related: Rep. Mary Peltola sworn into Congress )
Since her election, however, she has been taken aback by two things: the “overwhelming interest” across the nation in the Alaska congressional race, in which she is running again for the full two-year term to start in January, and the depths of disunion and division in the nation and the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic showed that division is the wrong direction, she said.
“This pandemic has shown us that we are pack animals: We need people. We need each other. We are not meant to be alone; we are not meant to be isolated; and the pandemic really proved that,” she said.
It was a great, great day when she won the election!
I'm convinced that Alaskans will vote her in again in November for a full term.
I'm with you on that.
A real Alaskan:
Mary Peltola goes home to the Kuskokwim
August 30, 2022 by Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media
Democrat Mary Peltola has been campaigning all summer to be Alaska’s representative in the U.S. House. She finally went home to Bethel last week and couldn’t wait to get out on the river.
But she had a camera crew with her and the weather was bad, so she was stuck inside, shooting campaign ads in her living room.
“It’s good fishing weather, but it’s not great filming weather. I think there’s some concern that equipment isn’t damaged,” she said. “Yeah, it’s pretty treacherous out there. South wind storms are no fun and you get a lot of whitecaps.”
Peltola, wearing a gray blazer and more make-up than she’s used to, sat back down under the bright lights and took direction from her media consultant and cameraman.
Peltola may already have won election to the U.S. House. Alaskans will learn the results of the Aug. 16 special election on Wednesday, when the ranked choice ballots are tallied. Republican Sarah Palin, the former governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee, is in a good position to win once the second-choices are counted. But for now, Alaska’s right-wing icon is trailing by almost 9 percentage points .
If Peltola wins, she’d be the first Alaska Native person ever elected to Congress. Right now, all she wants to do is fish.
By afternoon, the wind and rain have let up. The tide is favorable. Peltola happily threw off her blazer and put on bulky layers, topped with rain gear. She began throwing things in her aluminum skiff — buckets, an anchor, waterproof gloves.
“Everyone has a float coat?” she called out.
She grew up in Bethel, and in other communities in the Kuskokwim Delta. She’s pulled salmon from this river since she was a child. But the main goal of this voyage is video. Because whatever the outcome of the special election, Peltola will also be on the ballot in November. She needs TV ads. It makes for an awkward fishing trip.
“I want to put this inside of here, just to have a mic on you,” says the sound guy, coming at her with a wireless microphone he wants to clip inside her rain gear.
“Right this minute?” she asks.
She thanks him for holding off until they’re closer to fishing.
There’s a more serious problem with this fishing trip: There are no fish. The silvers didn’t show up in numbers sufficient to meet subsistence needs. That’s after another year of dismal chum and king returns.
It used to be, she said, that she would fear getting too many fish. She and her husband, Buzzy Peltola, figure they can cut and clean about 70 fish a day. In summers like this one, the daily harvest might be just a handful of salmon. If the river is open to any kind of fishing at all.
This is a tragedy beyond words for this salmon-based region. Peltola has spent the past five years of her career on it, as director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. Protecting salmon is a major campaign theme.
Peltola turns 49 this week. Born Mary Sattler, she’s the daughter of a Yup’ik mom and a Nebraskan dad who went north to teach school and later became a Bush pilot.
As she drives her skiff through the braids of the Kuskokwim, she points out the bank where her great-grandparents lived, and on the other side, where her mother was born during berry-picking season.
“Yeah, this is kind of the center of my universe,” she said, at the mouth of a tributary called the Gweek. “Just because my uncles taught me exactly where to put the net to catch certain kinds of fish.”
Scientists aren’t sure why the salmon aren’t returning to this river. Climate change and ocean acidification are factors. Peltola also attributes it to the thousands of salmon caught by accident by trawlers targeting pollock.
(The At-Sea Processors Association, which represents some of the largest factory trawlers, says it’s taking steps to limit bycatch, but says larger factors are to blame.)
Non-salmon producing tributaries of the Kuskokwim are open to fishing. So, primarily for the camera, Peltola feeds a small set net into the water. Sometimes salmon make a wrong turn. But when she checks the net later, it’s empty.
“I stay hopeful right until the end, because sometimes you get lucky, right at the end meshes,” she said.
Peltola went away to college, but at age 24 ran for state House and beat an incumbent. She stayed in office for a decade, overlapping with then-Gov. Sarah Palin. They bonded in the state Capitol, as two pregnant moms in office. When Palin left Juneau for the campaign trail, Peltola said, she bequeathed her backyard trampoline to Peltola.
Palin didn’t respond to interview requests.
She vilifies Democrats in general but recently called Peltola a “sweetheart.”
The lack of rivalry goes both ways.
“I think she’s great,” Peltola said.
That politeness is on-brand for her. In the Legislature, Peltola was known for uncommon kindness.
“She was never bitter. She was never angry. She was never partisan,” Andrew Halcro said. He and Peltola were freshman legislators in 1999. As a Republican representing the Sand Lake area of Anchorage, he ignited statewide fury with a speech he now regrets. He likened Bush residents to children who don’t learn to tie their laces because the state keeps sending Velcro shoes.
A lot of Alaskans wrote Halcro off as a racist.
But within hours, he said, Peltola was at his office door, asking if she could offer a different perspective on Power Cost Equalization, the rural energy subsidy he had derided. He came to see the program as she does, as a matter of equity for regions that didn’t benefit from expensive hydroelectric projects the state funded.
“I think with Mary Peltola, you should never, ever misconstrue kindness for somebody who’s not going to stand up for what she believes in,” Halcro said.
Bev Hoffman of Bethel has known Peltola her whole life and admires her.
“She is nice. But she is so tough,” Hoffman said.
They fought together on fish issues, and to get a swimming pool for Bethel, where drownings were common because few people learned to swim. They were at odds for six years, when Peltola worked as manager of community development and sustainability for Donlin Gold, a mine project Peltola no longer supports.
Hoffman said Peltola has a way of listening intently and drawing people of opposing views together.
“She doesn’t yell at people,” Hoffman said.
Peltola says yelling isn’t effective. She credits her upbringing and her mentos for her political style.
“The region where I’m from, there is a big premium on being respectful, on not using inflammatory language or harsh tones,” she said.
Wow! I'm impressed Peltrola got a republican to see equity as a good word and thing.