BETHEL — When U.S. Rep.-elect Mary Peltola stepped off a plane at the Bethel airport on Wednesday evening, she was home. Family members and friends gathered in the one-room terminal to greet her, carrying handmade signs and wide smiles that mirrored hers.
Outside, a steely sky and yellow birch trees marked a new season. Inside, Peltola, 49, embraced people who had known her as sister, fisherman and friend before she became politician, salmon advocate — and now, the first Alaska Native elected to Congress.
“It’s just really nice to share the win where I call home, with the people I grew up with,” Peltola said.
Peltola, who is Yup’ik and grew up in Western Alaska villages, has long called Bethel home. She is set to make history as not only the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, but also the first woman to hold Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, when she is sworn in Tuesday. For people who have known her since she was a child, it’s a victory they describe as restorative, iconic and inspirational.
Peltola represented the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in the Alaska Legislature for a decade, a region dotted with dozens of communities. But since announcing her U.S. House campaign in April, after the death of longtime Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young, she has only spent a few days here. She’s been traveling the state campaigning, returning most days to sleep in Anchorage, where her husband Gene “Buzzy” Peltola Jr. owns a home.
The moment of celebration was overlaid with sadness all too familiar. Four moose hunters from the community had been missing for days. Search and rescue efforts were ongoing. Between campaign calls, the duties of setting up a new congressional office and catching up with family, Peltola made time during her 40-hour stay to visit friends whose loved ones were missing.
“Even under the conditions, even though there is sadness, it’s a relief to be home with people to share in their sadness. There’s comfort in that, too,” she said. “We’re accustomed to grief. We all learn young the protocols for mourning and consoling people and how to pitch in, and when families are going through grief, we all rally around them.”
At the airport, she gave hugs to all who came to greet her. Among them were her sister, Margaret Fitka, and community activist Beverly Hoffman, who enthusiastically corralled supporters into a photo.
“We’re just so excited. It just means so much, not only just to this region, but to people who have known Mary. She’s our best, best person to be in Washington,” said Hoffman.
[ADN Politics podcast: A conversation with Mary Peltola]
Peltola won the seat in a special election that was called after Young died in March, following 49 years in office. Peltola’s mother campaigned for Young when she was pregnant; Peltola was born six months after Young was elected. Peltola’s father worked with Young as a teacher in Fort Yukon and later as a pilot flying him around the state.
Now, she is about to occupy the cavernous office previously assigned to Young. But just for four months. Peltola, a Democrat, is up for reelection in November, in a race that will determine who will hold the seat for the full two-year term that begins in January.
The November election is a rematch with her Republican rivals from the special election, former Gov. Sarah Palin and businessman Nick Begich III, along with Libertarian Chris Bye.
Alaska’s new ranked choice voting system paved Peltola’s path to victory. She received 40% of…
Read More: A shared win and warm homecoming in Bethel before Mary Peltola heads to Congress