Campaign in turmoil: Mary Peltola loses longtime manager days before Alaska primary

By THE ALASKA STORY

Aug. 16, 2026 – Mary Peltola’s campaign for the US Senate has undergone a sudden staff shakeup just days before Alaska voters head to the polls, with longtime political adviser Anton McParland no longer working for the campaign.

Kellen Browning, a national politics reporter for The New York Times, confirmed Sunday that McParland, Peltola’s campaign manager and former congressional chief of staff, “is no longer with the campaign.”

The campaign has not publicly disclosed or explained whether McParland resigned or was dismissed, nor has it announced who will take control of the operation as Peltola advances toward an expected general-election contest against Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

Social-media reports have claimed that other senior aides also departed or were let go. Those reports remain largely second-hand, however, and The Alaska Story has not independently confirmed the names or circumstances of the additional personnel changes.

Whatever caused the rupture, losing a campaign manager is rarely welcome news. Losing one who has been at the center of a candidate’s political organization for four years — just before the primary election — is an especially bad look.

McParland was vital to her political fortunes. He helped engineer Peltola’s breakthrough victory in the 2022 special election following the death of longtime Rep. Don Young and remained with her through the regular election campaign later that year.

After Peltola entered Congress, McParland became her deputy chief of staff and later chief of staff while continuing to play an important role in her political operation. A 2023 Alaska Public Media profile described him as one of Peltola’s closest advisers and quoted him calling her “one of my best friends in life.”

The same report said Peltola believed the two could practically read each other’s minds.

When Peltola lost her House seat to Republican Nick Begich in 2024, she and McParland moved together into the influence industry. Both joined the law and lobbying firm Holland & Hart in March 2025. Peltola became senior director of Alaska affairs, while McParland was named senior director of federal affairs, working between Anchorage and Washington. She reported earned over $400,000 a year.

McParland later returned to Peltola’s political operation for her 2026 challenge against Sullivan.

That long association makes his departure more significant than an ordinary midcampaign staffing change. McParland knew Peltola’s organization, donor network, political history and personal operating style better than nearly anyone in Democratic politics.

Peltola has built a national image around her broad smile and carefully cultivated “fish, family and freedom” persona. She cultivates a smile in public. Behind the scenes, however, former employees and others familiar with her congressional operation have described a much different management style, including allegations that she yelled at and berated staff members constantly. Those accounts have not been publicly documented in enough detail to determine whether they played any role in the current departures.

No evidence has emerged publicly connecting the shakeup to previous questions involving Peltola’s congressional or campaign operation.

McParland’s simultaneous employment by Peltola’s congressional office and campaign attracted scrutiny in 2023, although congressional ethics rules permit staff members to perform campaign work during their off-hours. Republican members of Congress also raised questions in 2025 about spending by Peltola’s former House office after she left office. Those matters are separate from the current campaign turmoil, and no public reporting has established a connection.

The immediate political problem for Peltola is one of timing and perception.

Alaska’s primary is Tuesday, Aug. 18. Peltola and Sullivan are both expected to advance under the state’s top-four system, but the primary results will provide the first statewide measure of their respective political strength heading into November.

Campaigns generally try to project stability and momentum during the final days before an election. Instead, Peltola’s operation is facing unanswered questions about why one of her closest and longest-serving advisers is suddenly gone — and whether McParland was the only senior figure to leave.

Until Peltola or her campaign provides an explanation, speculation will fill the vacuum. For a campaign seeking to unseat an incumbent senator in one of the most closely watched races in the country, an unexplained staff exodus on the eve of the primary is not the closing message it wanted.