Trending claims

According to two former aides and a photo viewed by The New York Times, on at least one occasion live crickets for Mary Peltola's daughter's chameleon escaped in her Capitol Hill office and had to be recaptured by staff.

Paul Horner, who was Mary Peltola's finance director for her 2022 campaign, described her as "one of the finest human beings" he has ever worked for.

According to a former aide, during a media prep session in December 2025, Mary Peltola grew frustrated, picked up a water bottle like a microphone, and shoved it toward a staff member while berating her.

Two people present during an incident involving Mary Peltola and an aide said a water bottle got close to the aide's face, but described the interaction as lighthearted and not tense.

Pat Jackson, who was Mary Peltola's aide in the Alaska State Legislature during the 2000s, said the idea of Peltola yelling at staff "just doesn’t sound like the Mary I worked with."

Mary Peltola's campaign denied that she had used the word 'faggot', which contradicts the accounts of four former staff members who claim she did.

According to the research website LegiStorm, Mary Peltola had one of the highest staff turnover rates on Capitol Hill during her time in Congress.

According to LegiStorm, only five of the 24 staff members who left Mary Peltola's office before the end of her term had previously worked for her predecessor, Don Young.

According to former staff, aides for Rep. Mary Peltola initially went to her Washington apartment to feed her daughter's chameleon, but she later brought the reptile into her Capitol Hill office.

In 2023, Mary Peltola had a higher rate of staff departures from her congressional office than all but four other members of the U.S. House, according to LegiStorm.

According to former staff members, Rep. Mary Peltola instructed aides to buy live crickets from a pet store and feed them to her daughter's pet chameleon, Meatball.

Mary Peltola employed three different state directors during her approximately two years in Congress.

Three former aides of Mary Peltola stated that she would sometimes jump up and down and stomp her feet.

Mary Peltola's campaign disputed the description of her sweeping papers into the air, but stated she had shuffled papers off her desk in frustration.

In 2024, Mary Peltola lost her re-election bid for the U.S. House to Republican Nick Begich III.

Mary Peltola's campaign stated that she recognized the word 'retard' was inappropriate and regretted using it.

Two former aides described an instance in 2024 when Mary Peltola, out of frustration, swept stacks of papers off her desk into the air.

In a 2026 text message viewed by The New York Times, Mary Peltola wrote "Fuck that retard" about a commercial fisheries executive who had posted a selfie with her.

Mary Peltola, a 53-year-old former state legislator, won a special U.S. House race in 2022 to succeed Republican congressman Don Young, who had died that year.

During the 2022 special House race in Alaska, Republican candidate and former Governor Sarah Palin told a crowd regarding her opponent Mary Peltola, "I love her dearly."