Mary Peltola could flip Alaska Senate seat—What to know about her family - Newsweek

Just over a year after Democrat Mary Peltola was sworn in as the first Alaska Native to be elected to Congress, the man who stood alongside her during that ceremony, her husband, died in a plane crash.

Eugene "Buzzy" Peltola Jr. was a respected figure in Alaska long before his wife's rise to national prominence, leading to her run for the Senate in the 2026 midterms, having worked as a wildlife manager, a tribal leader, a pilot and a public servant.

When allegations of outbursts toward her congressional staffers emerged in The New York Times earlier this week, Peltola's campaign said she had struggled in her grief for her husband, as well as her mother, who both died within months of each other.

"Mary suddenly and tragically lost both her mother and her husband in the span of a few months in 2023," Harry Child, Peltola's campaign spokesperson, told Newsweek on Thursday. "At the time of their passing, Mary was parenting kids through their own grief, serving full time in the U.S. House of Representatives thousands of miles from home, and running a competitive reelection campaign—all while shouldering the enormous burden of grief."

Newsweek reached out to Peltola's campaign for further comment Friday.

Peltola announced her U.S. Senate campaign off the back of her brief time as Alaska's only U.S. representative from 2022 through 2025. She is running against current Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.

Her campaign website leans heavily on her deep Alaskan roots, and she acknowledges that "life is difficult here" when talking about her state, explaining that "we know we have to take care of each other." Issues she outlines as facing her state include the depletion of fish stocks and the rocketing cost of living faced by many Americans.

Peltola is seeking to flip one of her state's Senate seats blue for the first time since 2008, making it a key race for the November midterms as the Democrats seek to take back control of Congress.

Earlier this week, her campaign was hit with allegations she had used slurs toward her staff and about a constituent. The Times also said staffers had alleged she had shoved an aide. Her campaign team dismissed the allegations, while saying she had at times struggled in her grief over the loss of her husband and mother.

Buzzy Peltola was born in February 1966 in Bethel, Alaska. He was an Alaska Native and member of the Orutsararmiut Native Council based in the city.

In the 1980s, he started working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), helping to lead subsistence management on federal lands in the state. Over the decades, he held other positions related to wildlife management, while also being an enthusiastic outdoorsman in his spare time.

In 2011, he was elected to a term as council member for the City of Bethel, leaving his mark on the local political scene.

His work with the FWS ended in 2018 when then Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke appointed him as the Regional Director for Alaska in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which meant overseeing services delivered to tribes across the state.

Buzzy died in a plane crash September 12, 2023, which the NTSB concluded was caused by the small aircraft he had rented being over its allowed weight. His passing sparked condolences from local leaders and President Joe Biden who said in a statement that "even a minute" with Peltola allowed a person to see the love she had for her state, its people, but most of all her husband.

"Buzzy was a devoted public servant and in the tributes coming from all over the state today, he is being remembered as a friend to all," Biden said. "But we know he was, first and always, the adored and devoted husband and father to a family now in pain."

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Alaska's other senator, and Sullivan also paid tribute.

On three-year anniversary of his death, Peltola paid tribute to her late husband on X, writing that he was a leader in their community.

"The weight of that loss hasn't lifted, not for our family and not for the countless others who loved him," she said. "Today we remember the legacy he left behind: the joy he brought into every room, the way he showed up for anyone who needed him, and a life defined by putting others before himself. That's who he'll always be to me, and to everyone lucky enough to have known him."

Mary and Buzzy Peltola had three children together, while she also had four stepchildren from previous marriages.

Not much is documented about the children, but Alaska's Division of Elections lists their names as Conrad Kapsner, Van Kapsner, Job Nelson, Nora Nelson, Eugene Peltola III, Trevor Peltola, and Kaeli Peltola.

"Family for people in Western Alaska is our social security. In most Native traditions, we don't really have words for stepsister or stepbrother, or half-sister or half brother," she said in a 2022 interview with the Anchorage Daily News. "We tend to not have words that make us further distant, but closer in, and it's because we knew that half-sister or stepsister or sibling is access to more resources and more labor. There are only benefits to growing your family."

An AARP survey released September 17 put Peltola in the lead against Sullivan (46 percent to 41 percent). After simulating Alaska’s ranked choice voting process, her lead grew to 53 percent vs. 47 percent. The survey was conducted from September 8 to 11 among 800 likely voters by the bipartisan polling team and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Real Clear Politics showed Peltola on an average of 50.3 percent of the vote compared to Sullivan's 48 percent as of Friday afternoon, although the most recent poll from co/efficient conducted September 14-17 showed the Republican with a two-point lead (48 percent to 46 percent).

Rasmussen, on September 15, framed the race as a tie, saying each candidate would get 39 percent of the vote if the election were held that day.

Prediction markets show a wider margin, with Kalshi giving Peltola a 74 percent chance of winning in November while Polymarket gives Peltola a 73 percent chance, as of Friday afternoon.

The Alaska Senate race matters since it's one of a handful of races which could determine which party controls the chamber after the midterms.

Unlike in other GOP-leaning states where Democrats are looking to flip a seat, Peltola has a unique advantage of having already demonstrated she can attract native voters, organized labor, moderate Republicans and independents, after her House win in 2022.

The race is being viewed as somewhat of a referendum on the state's political identity and whether it remains strongly Republican or willing to accept a more independent or left-leaning voice.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.

Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Jenna deJong and Anthony Murray.