Liberals Rush to Defend Mary Peltola After Staffer Accusations - Newsweek

Following a New York Times report detailing allegations of angry outbursts, use of slurs and an alleged shove by Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola against former staffers, prominent Democrats and liberal commentators have publicly defended her, questioning the credibility of the article.

“If we ever needed more evidence that the Times props up the elite and the status quo, here it is. Seriously? A Native American woman might join the Senate and help stop authoritarianism, and they focus instead on her bad temper toward her aides? This is b******t on so many levels,” former New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, wrote on X.

Political analyst Nate Silver also dismissed the relevance of the allegations, though in milder terms than de Blasio, writing on social media that “most reasonably well-adjusted people would read this and feel pretty sympathetic toward Peltola rather than her annoying staffers.”

Liberal activist Charlotte Clymer called the article “a very silly and sad attempt at a hit piece.”

Newsweek reached out to the Peltola campaign for comment on Thursday morning.

Former aides have described to the Times a pattern of abusive behavior which the Peltola campaign has denied, while acknowledging that Peltola struggled to deal with her grief after her mother and her husband died within a few months of each other in 2023.

“At the time of their passing, Mary was parenting kids through their own grief, serving full-time in the U.S. House of Representatives thousands of miles from home, and running a competitive re-election campaign—all while shouldering the enormous burden of grief,” spokesperson Harry Child told the newspaper. “Like any person who has gone through multiple personal tragedies in the span of a few months, Mary sometimes struggled to deal with her grief.”

According to nine former staff members who requested anonymity fearing retaliation, her 2022 campaign and following congressional office was marred by angry and profane outbursts, staff turnover and inappropriate language. The report included accusations by ex-aides that Peltola used the slurs “faggot” and “retarded,” a word which was also used in text messages viewed and shared by the newspaper.

The former congresswoman also made unusual requests to her staffers, according to former aides, including feeding live crickets to her daughter’s pet chameleon, Meatball.

Peltola did not answer reporters’ questions about the Times article at a labor event in Anchorage on Wednesday night, according to Fox News’ Matt Finn.

A member of her campaign said, “We can get you a statement on this later,” and referred reporters to Peltola’s statement in the article.

Peltola, who represented Alaska in the House from 2022 to 2025, is widely seen by Democrats as a strong candidate for ousting Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan and ultimately winning control of the U.S. Senate for the party.Within this high-stakes context, many Democratic politicians, liberal commentators, analysts and activists have hit back at The New York Times reporting, defending Peltola and calling for understanding at a time the former congresswoman was experiencing a personal tragedy.

“The woman has experienced unimaginable losses. Shouldn’t that have been closer to the top of the story instead of buried?” political consultant Neera Tanden wrote on X.

“Many of the anecdotes these staffers leaked were from soon after Peltola’s husband died. Seems pretty understandable that she would be in a bad place. I cannot understand working in politics & actually caring about the country and then leaking this shit right before an election,” political commentator Tommy Vietor wrote on social media.

Progressive political consultant Lauren Windsor commented on the fact that The New York Times report mentioned many former aides signed onto this year’s political operation, saying: “Working for Peltola was SO TERRIBLE that these ‘former’ staffers came back for more. Please spare me.”

Podcaster Josh Barro, a registered Democrat, criticized the former aides who spoke to the newspaper as exhibiting what he called “pathetic snowflake behavior.” He wrote on X: “as a staffer who is supposed to be partisan, to send your ex-boss’s texts to The New York Times weeks before a general election.”

Adam Carlson, founding partner of Zenith Polls, called the report, “one of the most sauceless attempted hit jobs of a candidate I’ve seen in some time.” He accused the article of misreading “how the extraordinary economic pain that Alaskans are under—sky high prices on gas & consumer goods and the ailing fishing industry, all caused or exacerbated by Trump’s policies—is the overwhelming driving force in informing persuadable voters’ choice for U.S. Senate.”

Author and blogger Hemant Mehta compared the allegations made against Peltola to the scandals that previously enveloped Republican candidates.

“Susan Collins took bribes. Lauren Boebert had sex with three staffers. Max Miller damaged his daughter’s collarbone. Trump’s son’s wedding afterparty was paid by a Russian tied to Putin,” he said. “Democratic scandal: Peltola asked staffers to feed a pet. And got mad sometimes.”

This is not the first time Democrats have rallied behind a politician facing allegations of mistreatment or difficult treatment of staff. Initially, Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner continued to receive backing from prominent Democrats despite a series of controversies, including allegations of aggressive behavior and sexual assault claims that he denied.

His biggest supporters—including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren—argued that his political appeal and policy priorities should not be eclipsed by controversies over his personal conduct, while other Democrats, including Sen. John Fetterman, withheld or criticized their support. Ultimately, even his biggest backers turned their back on him and called for Platner to drop out of the race.

A similar dynamic unfolded around former Rep. Katie Porter during her California gubernatorial campaign. After a video showing Porter sharply reprimanding a staffer emerged online, 30 former staffers publicly defended her, describing her in a letter as demanding but also supportive and committed to their professional development.

Democrats did not equally rally around Fetterman when he faced controversies himself. Last year, reports from current and former aides described concerns about his interactions with staff, with one reported incident involving an outburst at a meeting with teachers-union officials that left a staffer crying.

Fetterman’s office disputed aspects of the reporting and said that disagreements between the senator and his staff were normal. The report did not generate a concerted effort to defend Fetterman from Democrats. Partially, this may be because Fetterman’s relationship with portions of the Democratic coalition has become more strained as he has taken positions that sometimes diverge from progressive activists and lawmakers.

A new AARP survey released on September 17 puts Peltola in the lead with 46 percent of the vote in the initial round compared to Sullivan’s 41 percent. After simulating Alaska’s ranked choice voting process, her lead grew to 53 percent vs. 47 percent. The survey was conducted September 8 to September 11 among 800 likely voters by the bipartisan polling team and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

A spokesperson for Peltola’s campaign welcomed the poll, previously telling Newsweek that Peltola is focused on lowering costs and putting “Alaska first.”

A recent Alaska Survey Research poll gave the Democratic challenger nearly 50 percent of the vote over the Republican incumbent's 43.8 percent. The other two candidates in the general election—Republican Gerald Heikes and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., who is running as an independent—had 4 percent and 3.7 percent of the vote, respectively.

The survey was conducted among 1,352 likely Alaska voters between September 10 and 12 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

In a second round with only three candidates, the poll showed Peltola with 50 percent of the vote, Sullivan with 44.8 percent and Heikes with 5.1 percent. In a third hypothetical round between Peltola and the incumbent, the Democrat's share of the vote went up to 51.9 percent while Sullivan still trailed her with 48.1 percent.

A Fabrizio Ward/Impact Research poll conducted between September 8 and 11 among 800 likely voters showed Peltola ahead with 50 percent of the vote, followed by Sullivan with 43 percent.

Only a Co/efficient poll conducted between September 14 and 17 among 799 likely voters showed Sullivan ahead with 48 percent of the vote, followed by Peltola with 46 percent.

On the betting platform Kalshi, the Alaska Senate race has shifted to "Likely D" as traders expect Peltola to win the election on November 3.

Republicans currently hold the Senate with a narrow majority of 53 to 47. Democrats would need a net gain of four seats to take the majority, but they are also defending several of their own competitive seats.

Alaska is one of the Republican-held seats Democrats are targeting with the most optimism, hoping that Peltola will be able to unseat Sullivan. Alaska, a highly competitive state, has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 2008.