Mary Peltola

Mary Sattler Peltola (born August 31, 1973) is an American politician and former tribal judge who served as the U.S. representative from Alaska's at-large congressional district from 2022 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as a judge on the Orutsararmiut Native Council's tribal court, executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Bethel city councilor, and member of the Alaska House of Representatives.

Peltola defeated Republican former Governor Sarah Palin and Republican Alaska Policy Forum board member Nick Begich III in an upset in the August 2022 special election to succeed Don Young, who had died that March. It was the first election to take place under the state's new ranked-choice voting system. In winning that election, Peltola became the first Alaska Native member of Congress, the first woman to represent Alaska in the House of Representatives, the first person born in Alaska elected to the House, and the first Democrat to serve as Alaska's representative in the House since Nick Begich Sr. in 1972.

Peltola was reelected to a full term in the state's regularly scheduled election in November 2022. She was defeated in her 2024 re-election bid by Republican Nick Begich III.