Democratic candidate Mary Peltola called for congressional term limits and for strengthening campaign finance laws at a rally in front of the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau on May 14. evening. Peltola is running for the United States Senate against Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan.
Peltola kept her comments to about five minutes in the pouring rain. She transitioned from her affordability message earlier this week to focus on another part of her platform aimed at accountability for elected officials — she calls it “fixing the rigged system.”
“We’ve got to enact term limits. We’ve got to stop insider trading. We’ve got to stop the ability for people to line their own pockets. Congress is half millionaires and billionaires. It was not designed for that. It was designed to reflect everyone here, the working people of Alaska, the working people of our beautiful country,” Peltola said.
Peltola called for Alaska to lead by example and enact term limits for its own federal delegation. Her opponent, Sullivan, has served in the U.S. Senate since 2015. Alaska senior U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has served since 2002.
“I would love it if Alaska took the lead on really implementing term limits in our own state, saying for those members who are going to Washington, D.C. to be part of our federal delegation, 12 years in the House, 12 years in the Senate. If you can’t get it done in that amount of time, go home!” Peltola said to cheers from the crowd.
Peltola pointed to former Alaska Republican Congressman Don Young as an example of a politician who worked for Alaskans. He is the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. House with 49 years of service.
Peltola was elected to the U.S. House seat in a special election after Young died in 2022, and was the first Alaska Native representative in Congress. She recalled to the crowd her time as a legislator in the Alaska House representing Western Alaska from 1999 to 2009.
“When I worked in this building, among other things, I was the chair of the Bush Caucus, and I worked with everyone and anyone. I worked with people from every corner of this state, both parties working across party lines,” Peltola said.
“We need that back. We need people who are willing to set aside their own personal interests, their own personal ambition, their own personal stock portfolio, and work for the people, work for Alaskans,” said Peltola.
Peltola called for similar federal campaign finance rules as Alaska, which restricts corporations and unions from contributing directly to candidates, and caps political action committees to $1,000 per year for gubernatorial and legislative candidates.
“We can continue to show our leadership in Alaska. Other states want this too. Other people across America want term limits. We don’t want people in there making a career out of quadrupling their personal wealth, just as a slight example,” Peltola said to laughs from the crowd. “But we can’t do it alone. We need all of you.”
Peltola told reporters after the event that she supports Congress limiting the Iran War and would support a war powers resolution, and said her campaign is pushing for broader checks on the Trump administration.
“Our system was designed for a balance of powers,” Peltola said. “Clearly, there is not a balance of power right now. Clearly this administration has an outsized role in the direction, whether it’s tariffs or wars. We have got to have a Congress that doesn’t just cede all of their power. We’ve got to have a Supreme Court that stands up for Americans, for citizens, and it just seems like both of those branches are laying down on the job.”
Earlier this week, Peltola unveiled an “affordability” campaign as part of her platform, in part proposing policies to decrease costs to energy, freight, child care, and housing, as well as eliminating federal income tax for Alaskans earning less than $92,000 per year, the state’s median household income.
“There is a rigged system in Washington, D.C.,” Peltola said. “I saw it firsthand the two years that I worked there. I was shocked. It is not a system where bills are before you and you’re working for people, it’s a system where attack ads are created with your tax dollars.”
Several Juneau residents in attendance told the Alaska Beacon they wanted to see Peltola unseat Sullivan.
“He’s a Donald Trump sycophant,” said Juneau resident Lynn Hirschi, standing holding a protest sign. “And whatever Donald Trump says, and most of what he says is an absolute lie, and Mr. Sullivan just perpetuates that.”
Hirschi said she’d like to see Peltola join the Senate and all of Congress to stand up to the Trump administration to protect civil rights and voting rights, as well as curtail the immigration crackdown and proliferation of immigration detention centers. “Concentration camps. You can color in any way you want, but that’s what it is in my eyes,” she said. “Because silence is complicity,” she added. “And we have to stand up because everything has changed in the completely wrong direction. It is no longer a democracy. We need all the voices, we need all the people to stand up.”
Juneau artist Inari Kylänen said she is concerned about the Trump administration’s militaristic actions abroad, particularly airstrikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea, as well as its failure to take action to reduce the impacts of climate change.
“I hope that she would take stronger stances against some things that the Trump administration is doing, and really sort of bring a little bit more positive vision, like not just being like, ‘Hey, I’m against Trump,’ but what is going to happen if we flip the Senate? What could be done that would make things more just and equal for everybody?”
Greg Roth, a Juneau resident and retired correctional officer and suicide prevention advocate, said he sees Peltola as having a united, positive message and connecting with her constituents, pointing to Sullivan’s reluctance to host town halls.
“Dan Sullivan comes here, and he doesn’t hold a rally, he’s afraid to talk to us,” Roth said. “I mean, if you’re afraid to talk to people that you’re supposed to represent, there’s something wrong.”
Alaska’s primary elections will be held on August 18, and the general election is Nov. 3.
