Mary Peltola

Mary Sattler Peltola ( ; née Sattler; Yup'ik: Akalleq; formerly Nelson, formerly Kapsner; born August 31, 1973) is an American politician and former tribal judge serving as the U.S. representative from since September 2022. 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 councillor and member of the Alaska House of Representatives. 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. In doing so, she became the first Alaska Native member of Congress and the only Russian Orthodox, 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. As of 2023, Peltola is the only Democrat holding statewide office in Alaska. Early life and education Peltola is Yup'ik from Western Alaska. She was born in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 31, 1973. Her Yup'ik name is Akalleq. Peltola's father, Ward Sattler, a German-American from Nebraska, moved to Alaska to work as a pilot and teacher. Her mother, Elizabeth "LizAnn" Piicigaq Williams, is Yup'ik from Kwethluk. Peltola was raised in the communities of Kwethluk, Tuntutuliak, Platinum, and Bethel. As a child, she traveled with her father around Alaska as he campaigned for Congressman Don Young. As a college student, she worked as a herring and salmon technician for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Peltola studied elementary education at the University of Northern Colorado (1991 to 1993) and later took courses at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (1994 to 1995), University of Alaska Southeast (1995 to 1997), and University of Alaska Anchorage (1997 to 1998). In 1995, Peltola won the Miss National Congress of American Indians pageant. In the competition, she performed two Yup'ik dances and wore traditional clothing including a squirrel skin parka, wolf hair headdress, and mukluks.