Former staffers have accused Alaska Senate hopeful Mary Peltola of using a racial slur. The allegation stems from an incident after a dinner in October 2024. Peltola was a US Representative at the time. The event honored nearly 4,000 black soldiers.
Her campaign spent $8,000 on tables for the dinner. FEC records show this amount was paid. Ed Wesley, a black Army veteran, reportedly promised the tables would be full. When that did not happen, Peltola allegedly got angry.
An unnamed former staffer reportedly told the outlet Alaska Landmine about the incident. The report adds that Peltola called Wesley a “scammer” repeatedly. Wesley is a former president of the Anchorage NAACP.
Peltola’s team rejected the story as false. They told the New York Post it was a smear campaign. A spokesperson described the accuser as an unstable, disgruntled former staffer who was fired. The spokesperson added that Peltola would never use such a word.
This is not the first time such claims have surfaced. Peltola was already accused of using other offensive terms. Reports say she used words like “retard” and “f—t.” Some reports even say she shoved a male employee. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez backed Peltola in January.
Ocasio-Cortez asked her supporters to donate money to the campaign. In 2024, the National Rifle Association endorsed only one Democrat: Peltola. She served in the House from 2022 to 2025. During that time, she pushed for Arctic drilling.
While these accusations fly, federal agents are also looking into the race. The FBI has started talking to donors of Dan Sullivan. This is the incumbent Republican Senator. Agents are asking if anyone was misled about who they were supporting.
Agents visited remote communities in Alaska. They also contacted a couple in Massachusetts. An FBI agent went to a boat dealership in Petersburg. That is where a different candidate named Dan Sullivan lives.
Charles Flint gave $500 to the candidate he thought was the Senator. He respected him for “throwing his hat in the ring.” Flint told the Associated Press that an agent asked his son if Flint felt misled. Flint said he did not feel misled at all.
Alaska US Attorney Michael Heyman said the probe has been going on for months. He noted that recent reports from The New York Times caused a “significant surge of law enforcement assets to Alaska.”
The Trump administration wants a federal judge to stop the vote count. They filed a lawsuit to block certification of a possible win for Peltola. The state of Alaska pushed back hard on Saturday.
According to the Associated Press, the state urged the judge to dismiss the suit. The state argued that separating ballots would be impossible. They said it would violate voter privacy.
The state filing noted that the two Dan Sullivans are listed differently on the ballot. The Senator is marked as a Republican and the incumbent. The other candidate is simply listed as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” State officials wrote that they designed the ballot to minimize confusion.
Mark Levin called the situation a “conspiracy” on Fox News. He told Sean Hannity that Democrats tried to steal the Senate. Levin stated that “this was an attack on the citizens of Alaska to try and create a phony ballot.” He believes Peltola knew about the plan.
The state told the court to dismiss the lawsuit immediately.
