A key Republican defends Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola after reports of abusive behavior

By Arlette Saenz, CNN

(CNN) — Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan criticized his Democratic opponent Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, over allegations of abusive behavior toward members of her staff, which he described as “very disturbing.”

But Sullivan’s Republican colleague, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, offered a notable defense of Peltola.

The New York Times on Wednesday detailed allegations made by several former Peltola aides, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation or professional repercussions. The Times reported the aides said the former congresswoman engaged in angry and profane outbursts and at times used inappropriate language, including slurs used to describe gay people or individuals with intellectual disabilities.

The report also described one tense prep session when Peltola grew frustrated and allegedly berated one of the staff members. Another moment described in the reports alleged Peltola shoved a male employee in the chest when she could not find a memo for a meeting. The Times also said Peltola required “aides to feed live crickets to her family’s pet chameleon.”

Peltola’s campaign denied some of the allegations in the Times story but acknowledged others, saying she at times struggled to deal with the grief of losing her mother and her husband over a short time period in 2023 while serving in Congress.

“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,” said Peltola campaign spokesperson Harry Child. “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.”

“Exaggerating and outright lying about moments from the hardest period of her life, and falsely presenting them as a pattern of behavior, is wrong,” he added.

Peltola was first elected to Congress in a 2022 special election to complete the term of GOP Rep. Don Young following his death. She beat former GOP Gov. Sarah Palin in the race and then was elected to a full term in Congress that year. She lost her re-election bid in 2024.

On Capitol Hill Thursday, Sullivan described Peltola’s alleged behavior as a “character issue” and said he did not buy the former congresswoman’s explanation for her behavior.

“I think it’s very sad, very disturbing that so many Alaskans had to get put through that kind of severe abuse, which is very disturbing, but not surprising,” he said.

Asked by CNN if she felt the Times report accurately described Peltola, Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski said, “I think there are many parts of it that I find inflammatory.”

Murkowski, who supported Peltola in a past campaign but is siding with Sullivan in this race, also described the difficult situation the former congresswoman faced following the loss of her close family members. Eugene “Buzzy” Peltola Jr., Mary Peltola’s husband, died in a 2023 plane crash in Alaska.

“I do acknowledge that while she was here in her first term, she was not only thrown into a very challenging situation immediately running for campaign, but then to lose her husband in that airplane crash and to deal with all of that. That’s pressure that is hard for anybody to bear,” she said.

On Wednesday, Peltola ignored questions from reporters about the matter following a town hall in Anchorage, according to a local report.

It’s unclear how these allegations will play with voters in the state, but the outcome of Alaska’s Senate race could determine which party controls the upper chamber next year. Democrats have eyed Alaska as a potential pick-up opportunity heading into November.

Democratic Party leaders view Peltola as a top recruit and are hoping souring voter sentiment toward President Donald Trump over the economy and other issues will work in their favor.

But Democrats are also operating in difficult political terrain. Trump, who has floated campaigning for Sullivan this year, won Alaska in 2024 by 13 points, and the state has not elected a Democratic senator since 2008.

In last month’s all-party primary, Peltola emerged at the top of the pack earning 49.5% of the vote while Sen. Sullivan trailed behind her at 41.4%. But that’s not necessarily predictive of an outcome in November. In the 2024 primary for her House seat, Peltola earned 51% of the vote but still lost the general election later that year.

In addition to Peltola and Sen. Sullivan, the general election in November, which will use a ranked-choice voting system, will also feature Dan J. Sullivan, a former schoolteacher who filed to run as a Republican, and Gerald Heikes, another Republican. There is some GOP concern having two same-named Sullivans on the ticket could lead to confusion and split the vote in the highly competitive race.

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CNN’s Manu Raju, Ted Barrett and Logan Schiciano contributed to this report.