Two former staffers of former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) allege the Alaska Democrat repeatedly used the n-word in 2024, according to a report from the Alaska Landmine.
The two former aides worked in the Alaska Democrat’s House office and on her campaign. They spoke to the Landmine on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation. Both described separate episodes in 2024.
One instance allegedly followed an October 25, 2024 dinner honoring the roughly 4,000 African American soldiers who helped build the Alaska-Canada Highway during World War II. The event was promoted by Ed Wesley, an Army veteran, former commander of American Legion Post 34, and former president of the Anchorage NAACP.
Wesley pressured the campaign to buy tables and promised to fill them, according to a former aide. The campaign purchased eight tables at $1,000 each, the staffer said, and an October 18, 2024 FEC filing shows $8,000 paid to Eventbrite for tickets. The tables sat mostly empty. Peltola did not attend.
After staff told her about the turnout, the Senate candidate grew angry and called Wesley a “scammer,” the staffer alleged.
“I can’t believe that n****r,” Peltola said, according to the staffer.
The aide told the Landmine they had grown “numb” to such language, alleging they had previously heard Peltola use the slur “faggot” when referring to gay staffers.
A second staffer alleged the Alaska Democrat used the n-word multiple times during a spring 2024 campaign meeting. Staff conducting opposition research had discovered that her son, Job Nelson, ran a YouTube channel featuring self-produced rap music that frequently used the word. The channel was later deleted, the staffers said.
“It shocked everyone in the room,” the second staffer said, adding that no one confronted her out of fear.
The allegations come weeks after the New York Times published a report describing a pattern of angry outbursts, a shove, and slurs across Peltola’s years in office. Peltola is challenging Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in a race that could decide control of the Senate.
The Peltola campaign did not respond to the Landmine before publication but afterward claimed the report was “an outright lie published by a right-wing gossip blogger.”
“Mary would never use this word, which is a vile slur with a painful, hateful history,” the campaign said.
