Suzanne Downing: Whether it’s Mary Sattler, Kapsner, Nelson, or Peltola, her no-show record follows her from office to office

By SUZANNE DOWNING

Sept. 1, 2026 – Mary Peltola has appeared on Alaska’s political stage under several names over the years: Mary Sattler, Mary Kapsner, Mary Sattler Kapsner, Mary Nelson, Mary Sattler-Nelson and, finally, Mary Peltola.

She may as well be Mary No-Show, because the name on the office door is less important than whether the officeholder ever showed up for work.

Whatever name she was using, Peltola accumulated an extraordinary record of missed votes and meetings while collecting a public paycheck.

According to legislative records reviewed by Fox News, Peltola missed 794 of 4,265 votes during her five terms in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1999 through 2009. That is 18.6%, nearly one out of every five votes she was elected to cast.

The worst period came during the 23rd Alaska Legislature, in 2003 and 2004, when Peltola missed 334 of 1,019 votes. That means she was absent for nearly one-third of the recorded decisions made during that Legislature.

The pattern did not end when she left Juneau.

During her service on the Bethel City Council from 2011 through 2013, Peltola missed 22 of 60 meetings, according to city records. That is an absence rate of 36.7%, more than one out of every three meetings. She missed 11 of 32 meetings in 2012 and nine of 22 in 2013.

Then Alaska sent her to Congress after Congressman Don Young died. From mid-2022 through 2024, Peltola missed 235 of 1,370 recorded roll-call votes, or 17.2%, according to GovTrack data. The median among House members serving at the end of 2024 was approximately 2.2%.

Different name. Different office. Different decade. Same no-show problem. Voters had seen enough and kicked her out.

The Peltola campaign says the raw state legislative numbers are unfair because three of her children were born while she was serving in the Alaska House and she took maternity leave. But the days missed do not neatly line up with her postpartum history.

Maternity leave does not explain her Bethel City Council record years later. Nor does it explain missing 17.2% of the votes during her two years in Congress.

For the council absences, the campaign offered another explanation: Peltola spent summers fishing and some meetings conflicted with that activity.

Many Alaskans fish. Many run small businesses, raise children, work seasonal jobs and travel long distances. They still understand that accepting a public office means accepting its obligations. If fishing repeatedly prevents an elected official from attending meetings, the question is not whether fishing is important. The question is why that person sought an office she was frequently unable or unwilling to attend.

Peltola’s congressional tenure produced another no-show statistic: None of the bills or resolutions for which she was a primary sponsor became law.

Missing votes is not the only measure of effectiveness. Members of Congress also conduct constituent work, participate in committees, negotiate legislation and influence measures sponsored by others. But attendance is the most basic and visible responsibility. Alaska has only one member of the US House. When that member is absent, Alaska has no replacement vote.

Congressman Nick Begich, who replaced her, has set a historic record in Congress, passing more bills than any freshman in history.

Now Peltola is seeking another federal office, and effectively asking Alaskans for a promotion.

Her attendance history is not one bad month, a family emergency, or one isolated season. It stretches across the Alaska Legislature, the Bethel City Council and Congress … and across her many names. At some point, a series of explanations becomes a pattern.

There is, however, one legal proceeding in which Peltola is decidedly present. She has shown up for the money: Peltola filed a wrongful-death lawsuit over the 2023 plane crash that killed her husband, Eugene “Buzzy” Peltola Jr. The lawsuit alleges that the companies associated with the aircraft and hunting operation acted negligently by requiring excessive flying, failing to provide adequate rest, permitting dangerous operating conditions. and failing to carry workers’ compensation insurance.

But the National Transportation Safety Board’s findings contradict Mary Peltola’s cash quest. Federal investigators concluded that the airplane was about 117 pounds over its maximum takeoff weight. Moose antlers had been attached to the right wing strut without required approval, adding drag and creating an imbalance. The NTSB identified the Buzzy Peltola decision to fly overweight and with the externally mounted antlers, together with turbulent conditions and downdrafts, among the causes of the crash.

Mary Peltola nevertheless wants the aircraft owner and associated businesses held financially responsible for her late husband’s choices. Her attorney argues that if the companies employed Peltola’s husband but failed to carry workers’ compensation coverage, Alaska law may limit their ability to assign blame to him.

Peltola’s campaign will offer explanations for each chapter of her many absences: Maternity leave. Fishing season. Excused absences. Competing priorities. Every individual absence may have had a reason.

But public records capture outcomes for the public, and when she showed up and didn’t show up.

The reality is that Mary Peltola missed nearly one-fifth of her Alaska House votes, more than one-third of her Bethel City Council meetings and more than one-sixth of her congressional votes.

Alaskans have known her by several names. The spotty attendance record follows every one of them.