By SUZANNE DOWNING
Oct. 2, 2026 — Mary Peltola’s service on a commission that recommended strong restrictions on immigration-status inquiries, diversity training, and changes to criminal justice policy is receiving renewed attention as she campaigns for the US Senate.
Matt Mercer of Breitbart News reported Sept. 30 on the recommendations of the Governor’s Commission on Tolerance, an advisory body established under Democrat Gov. Tony Knowles in 2001.
Contemporaneous state records identify Peltola, then serving in the Alaska House as Mary Kapsner of Bethel, as a commissioner. She also included that service in her own biography in Alaska’s official 2002 election pamphlet.
According to Mercer’s review, the commission recommended that state agencies generally refrain from asking about immigration status, with an exception when the law specifically requires it. Other proposals included recurring cross-cultural training for school employees, municipal police-review panels with investigative and subpoena powers, restorative justice programs, and expanded treatment for offenders, including sex offenders.
Those were commission recommendations. The records reviewed for this article do not establish that Peltola personally authored those individual proposals.
The early supporting records identify Rev. Chuck Eddy as chairman. They also name Mara Kimmel, then an immigration and refugee services attorney at Catholic Social Services, among the commissioners. Kimmel is married to former Anchorage mayor and former House Rep. Ethan Berkowitz.
A draft organizational meeting agenda scheduled presentations from the radicalized Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League, along with Alaska organizations including the Alaska Civil Liberties Union, Alaska Federation of Natives, and Alaska Native Justice Center.
The commission arose following the Anchorage paintball attacks that supposedly targeted Alaska Natives. Gov. Knowles’ Administrative Order 189 charged it with conducting hearings and developing policy recommendations.
The order provided state staff and legal support, along with travel and per diem provisions.
An additional document shows that the commission’s work had consequences beyond producing a report.
On March 5, 2002, Knowles signed Administrative Order 195, explicitly citing the commission’s findings. It directed executive agencies to establish internal discrimination and harassment complaint procedures, provide diversity training, and expand recruitment outreach.
The order called for state supervisors to complete diversity training within a year, to the maximum extent possible. It also required complaint processes for members of the public and annual agency reports on complaints and responses.
Mercer’s story of Peltola’s commission service is contrasted with recent allegations about her abusive treatment of congressional staff. Follow-up reporting on the Sept. 23 New York Times investigation describes former aides’ allegations of angry outbursts, a shove, and an anti-gay slur. Peltola disappeared from the public for several days after that reportPeltola is seeking the Senate seat held by Republican Dan Sullivan.
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