Mary Peltola — the Alaska Democratic Senate hopeful famously championed by “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — is fighting allegations by former staffers she used the n-word.
Peltola, 53, is challenging incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in a critical and controversial race that could determine the balance of power on Capitol Hill.
The incident allegedly occurred after an October 2024 dinner honoring nearly 4,000 black soldiers, when Peltola was a US Representative for Alaska.
Her campaign shelled out $8,000 on tables for the event, FEC records show, after Ed Wesley, a black Army veteran promoting the dinner, reportedly assured her the tables would be filled.
When that didn’t happen, Peltola allegedly exploded.
“She said, “I can’t believe that n—-r,’” an unnamed former staffer told news outlet Alaska Landmine, adding Peltola repeatedly referred to Wesley, a former president of the Anchorage NAACP, as a “scammer.”
Peltola’s campaign flatly denied the allegation to The Post, calling it “part of a smear campaign driven by an unstable, disgruntled former staffer who was fired.”
“Mary would never use this word, which is a vile slur with a painful, hateful history,” a spokesperson said.
The n-word allegation comes after Peltola was already accused of being prone to angry outbursts and using other offensive terms like “retard” and “f—t” — and even shoved a male employee.
In January, AOC threw her powerful fundraising muscle behind Peltola, asking her legion of supporters to donate to her campaign.
Peltola was the only Democrat endorsed by the National Rifle Association in 2024. During her House tenure from 2022 to 2025, she lobbied the Biden administration for Arctic drilling and boasted about getting ConocoPhillips’ controversial $8 billion Willow Project approved.
Recruiting Peltola to run has been described as a coup for the national Democrats, as the parties try to flip the Senate in the 2026 midterms.
Peltola, who has won a statewide race before, is considered a strong bet, but polls suggest a very close race, with the latest putting her at just 2 percentage points over her opponent.
AOC did not return The Post’s request for comment.
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