Suzanne Downing: The Mary Peltola meltdown as her abusive text messages surface

By SUZANNE DOWNING

Sept. 24, 2026 – Mary Peltola built a political identity around being “Nice Mary,”  the approachable Alaskan who could get along with anyone, even opponents.

Of course, back when she was in the Alaska Legislature, she was known as mattress-back Mary and cocaine Mary, but she managed to overcome the old rumors that put her in compromising positions. She became the kindly fisherwoman grandma, traditional Native auntie who could navigate a river or the halls of Congress.

It was a powerful image. It was also one that many who worked for her say they did not recognize.

The New York Times has now reported what had circulated for years among staffers: Peltola’s explosive anger, screaming, slurs, staff members reduced to tears and an incident in which former aides say Peltola actually shoved an employee in her congressional office. Reporter Kellen Browning spoke with nine former staff members and reviewed contemporaneous messages and photographs.

These are no longer just stories whispered by people afraid to put their names to them. Her former staff members could no longer stay silent.

One text message is especially hard to square with the manufactured public persona.

In a fit of anger at Planned Parenthood, Peltola wrote to staff, “FUCK THOSE BITCHES.” Later, apparently referring to a woman on a local Planned Parenthood board, she wrote, “I hope she dies of a botched abortion.” The Times viewed both messages. Then published them so readers could see for themselves.

Wishing death-by-abortion is an appalling thing, especially coming from a politician who has presented herself as a champion of compassion and abortion access. Notably, Planned Parenthood no longer endorses Mary.

The other side of Mary Peltola: Former aides describe outbursts, slurs and firings

The campaign denies all this, of course. It disputes the account that Peltola shoved an aide, saying she accidentally bumped him. It denies former staffers’ allegations that she used a homophobic slur.

But folks, here’s the reality: The current campaign is staffed by a whole new crew, because the old crew has split. And this crew has no idea what went on before. They’re just protecting their boss, as they are paid to do. They’re giving the answer one would expect them to give: Saying it’s just not true.

Peltola declined to be interviewed by the Times. She then dodged a reporter who pursued her at an Anchorage fundraiser last night. The campaign also pointed to the deaths of her mother and her husband in 2023, saying she struggled with grief.

OK, those losses were terrible. I know how it is to lose family members. We all do, to be real. It’s the nature of mortality — we lose loved ones.

But grief is not a blanket excuse for how a public official treated the people who worked for her even before the death of her mother, and later her husband in 2023. I have heard about the screaming that penetrated office walls — long before those tragedies occurred. I heard these stories years ago.

The Times describes problems extending into her current Senate campaign, years after the deaths. It also reminds readers that her congressional office had one of the highest staff turnover rates on Capitol Hill. Indeed, it was notoriously high.

The Times has now done the work of gathering firsthand accounts and messages. The Left is trying to wave away the entire question as a reaction to a few months of grief.

Consider Tyson Fick, a longtime supporter who gave up a great deal to work for Peltola in Washington on fisheries issues. I had heard an account that she fired him and rehired him the next day.

At least nine former staff members were willing to describe a troubled, maniacal woman to a national newspaper, backed by messages the reporter reviewed. Those accounts go far beyond what normal stress can explain. The documentation shows a pattern of abuse.

The detail about aides buying live crickets and going to Peltola’s Washington apartment to feed her daughter’s chameleon, Meatball, almost sounds like satire. It’s funny, but it’s also a crime to use taxpayer resources for personal benefit.

The larger account is not funny. Staff described managing her moods, worrying about the next outburst and discussing quitting. According to the Times, a dispute over campaign signs this summer preceded the firing or reassignment of several longtime aides just before the primary. It was just about as toxic as any work environment could ever be.

Meanwhile, Peltola was in Anchorage telling a labor audience that she has a “servant’s heart,” according to Fox News reporter Matt Finn, who tried to question her after the Times story broke. A servant’s heart ought to show up in how a leader treats employees when the cameras are gone. She refused to answer his questions about the breaking news article about her.

Alaskans will decide for themselves whether Peltola’s campaign response is convincing. I do not find it convincing. If she wants to represent this state in the US Senate, she should address the specific accounts publicly and apologize for the language in those texts and for mistreatment of her staff.

The US Senate is a place of pressure, conflict, wins, and losses. Alaskans deserve to know how a candidate behaves under that pressure, especially toward people whom she has power over.

The Times has pulled back the curtain. “Nice Mary” was the image sold to voters. Mary was a manufactured candidate. The people who worked for her have dismantled that fake image and have shown her for who she is: Madwoman Mary.

Suzanne Downing is founder and editor of The Alaska Story and is a longtime Alaskan.

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