Democratic Senate nominee and former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, missed nearly one in five votes in the Alaska House of Representatives and more than a third of Bethel City Council meetings during her time in office, records show.
Peltola missed 794 of 4,265 state House votes, or 18.6%, during her five terms from 1999 to 2009, according to legislative records, and 22 of 60 city council meetings, or 36.67%, from 2011 to 2013, according to city records.
Her attendance record is now raising questions about her commitment to public service as she advances to Alaska’s four-candidate general election, a closely watched race that could affect control of the US Senate.
“Alaskans deserve an all-the-time workhorse like Dan Sullivan, not someone like Peltola who knifes Alaskans in the back when she even bothers to show up,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Nick Poche said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.
Records show Peltola’s highest number of absences came during the 23rd Legislature from 2003 to 2004, when she missed 334 of 1,019 Alaska House votes. She also missed nine of 22 council meetings in 2013 and 11 of 32 council meetings in 2012, according to city records.
Peltola has also faced criticism from conservatives for missing votes while serving in the United States Congress from 2022-2024, when she missed 235 of 1,370 roll-call votes, or 17.2%, according to GovTrack data.
In addition to missed votes, Peltola’s critics have pointed to her time in Congress not resulting in any bills or resolutions for which she was the primary sponsor becoming law, compared to Sullivan who has had several bills signed into law.
“She couldn’t even get a single bill signed into law,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) posted on X in January. “Now, she wants a promotion.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Peltola campaign spokesperson defended the absences, saying Peltola, a mother of seven, took maternity leave after giving birth to three of her children while serving in the state House.
The spokesperson added that, excluding excused absences, Peltola missed only about 6% of votes and continued to advance bipartisan measures throughout her tenure.
“Three of Mary’s children were born during her time in the state legislature and she took maternity leave. That didn’t stop her from working hard for Alaskans, from passing bills to improve public safety in rural Alaska to increasing Alaska energy production,” the Peltola campaign said.
The campaign also said Peltola spent summers at a fishing camp and that some city council absences occurred during fishing months or because of other council priorities.
Turning to Sullivan’s attendance record, the spokesperson said he has missed a significant number of votes and committee hearings, calling his absences “an insult to Alaskans” and saying that Sullivan has been “slacking off” missing fisheries subcommittee hearings.
Peltola announced her Senate bid in January to represent Alaska and unseat Sullivan, a two-term senator backed by President Trump and also advanced to the general election in November. She finished ahead of Sullivan in Tuesday’s primary.
Alaska’s unique election system uses a nonpartisan top-four primary, in which candidates from all parties appear on the same ballot, followed by ranked-choice voting in the general election.
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