Why I’m supporting Mary Peltola

By Beth Kerttula

Mary Peltola gave a speech in my hometown a couple months ago that made me think about what a great state we have — and how much we deserve a great US senator like her. 

What if we could have a U.S. senator that not only understands the meltdown that Congress has become, but also, very deeply, understands us? 

In the group of 100 Americans who serve in the U.S. Senate, there are some well-meaning people. But they are not being heard. The overwhelming nature of what faces America, and Alaska, today demands a person with grit and ability to go into that relatively small group of very powerful people, and do what she does best — speak truth to power and change it for the better. It is time for term limits in Washington. Mary’s plan of a 12-year limit for U.S. senators and members of Congress would be transformational. But Mary won’t stop there. Mary understands Alaskans and our needs. Grocery and gas prices are going through the roof. Government has become part of the problem instead of helping solve it. Health care is not affordable for many Alaskans. Many of us are just a bad health problem away from bankruptcy. 

Mary has a strong platform to help Alaskans. It includes reversing D.C. cuts to healthcare, and supporting our fisheries and our fish (no more factory trawling!). She would continue her work in education and with veterans. Mary would work for us. We are her “special interest” — not lobbyists or corporations. Unlike too many politicians, Mary would not get rich off stock trades while we sink further into debt — she’d fight to ban congressional stock trading altogether. 

When I think of one word that describes Mary, it is Alaskan. Her grit, her compassion and her ability to solve problems and work with people from many different paths of life all show her Alaskan values. She knows what it is to grow up rich in culture but not in money. She knows what it’s like to raise her children through hardships that would stop most of us. She knows what it takes to represent us. Let’s elect someone that deeply understands us and send them to Washington. Let’s bring some good Alaskan sensibility and make change.  

On Aug. 18 and Nov. 3 please join me in voting for Mary Peltola.  

• Beth Kerttula is a former Alaska State House Minority Leader and volunteer for Mary Peltola’s U.S. Senate campaign.