Mary Peltola
Peltola's House record was strongly pro-Israel, breaking with most Democrats to back a standalone aid package and to override the hold on U.S. arms sales to the government of Israel, Jewish Insider reported. In a debate she called for continued humanitarian relief in Gaza (research).
Peltola is a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Alaska and served just over a term in the U.S. House, where she co-chaired the moderate Blue Dog caucus.
When she entered this race, Jewish Insider summarised that House record as strongly pro-Israel: she "supported a standalone Israel aid package opposed by many Democrats, as well as a measure to override the Biden administration's hold on U.S. arms sales to Israel that only a handful of other Democrats voted for." The same piece records her backing measures against Iran and its proxies, sanctions on the International Criminal Court, and several antisemitism measures, and her vote against censuring a colleague. Her recorded votes on this site's tracked bills run in that direction, with one exception, and they are on this card with their own sources. Two of them are worth grounding. In April 2024 she voted for a $26.38 billion package for the government of Israel, of which $4 billion was for the Iron Dome and David's Sling interceptor systems and $1.2 billion for Iron Beam, all of them systems for shooting things down; by that day the Gaza health ministry had reported 34,049 people killed, 14,685 of them children. Four weeks later she voted for the bill written to force delivery of the 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs the administration had paused, which is a different kind of weapon and a different act; the reported toll that day was 35,272 killed, 15,103 of them children.
On the other question, what the United States sends Palestinians, the one answer of hers we could open is from a televised debate in October 2024. Asked about Israel, she said: "The conflict in Palestine and, uh, in Gaza is terrible. It's a real humanitarian crisis. And as a mother of seven, as a grandmother of two, of course, I want peace and prosperity everywhere. I think that it's really important that we continue to provide humanitarian relief wherever we can. We need to make sure people are getting adequate amounts of food and water, and that we are preventing as many youth, um, civilians from being killed as possible." The outlet that transcribed it, Must Read Alaska, headlined the answer as a refusal to affirm Israel's right to exist. That is the outlet's reading of what she did not say; her words are above, and readers can weigh both.
Her campaign site is about affordability and anti-corruption measures, and carries nothing on this subject. She has not said, since entering the Senate race, what she would now do about weapons for the government of Israel.
Tracked votes: backed sending U.S. weapons or funding to the government of Israel in 3 of 4 recorded votes.
Research
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- [Position, 2026-01-12] Jewish Insider, reporting her Senate campaign launch: she "maintained a strongly pro-Israel voting record, breaking on numerous occasions with a majority of her party to vote for measures supporting the Jewish state", and she "supported a standalone Israel aid package opposed by many Democrats, as well as a measure to override the Biden administration's hold on U.S. arms sales to Israel that only a handful of other Democrats voted for." Opened and confirmed word for word. These are the outlet's words characterising her record, not hers.
- Her recorded votes on the tracked bills appear as badges on this card with their own roll-call sources. They run one way with a single exception, and this record's own summary says that exception was about Internal Revenue Service funding cuts attached to the bill rather than about the aid. That reason is asserted nowhere else and carries no source, so it is recorded here and not on the card.
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-11] With two other Blue Dog co-chairs she called for freezing $6 billion in Iranian assets so the money could not reach groups attacking Israel. A joint statement, so it supports only joint wording. Off the card (C1).
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- [Position, 2024-10-10] In the KTUU and Alaska Public Media televised debate she said it is "really important that we continue to provide humanitarian relief wherever we can" and that "we need to make sure people are getting adequate amounts of food and water". Recovered word for word from Must Read Alaska's transcript of the answer, published the following day. She names no United States programme and no figure.
Characterization of the conflict
- [Position, 2024-10-10] The same answer opens: "The conflict in Palestine and, uh, in Gaza is terrible. It's a real humanitarian crisis." The outlet's headline reads the answer as a refusal to affirm Israel's right to exist, and notes she did not use the word Israel. That is the writer's inference from a silence; the card carries her words and names the outlet's reading rather than adopting it.
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-09] Alaska Public Media's round-up of Alaska leaders' statements, reprinted by Senator Murkowski's office, carries her statement calling the attacks appalling. Off the card (C1).
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-11] The Blue Dog joint statement describes the attack as the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Joint wording. Off the card (C1).
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- Covered by the items above.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- [Position, 2026-01-12] Jewish Insider's piece records her support for the Antisemitism Awareness Act, a resolution describing anti-Zionism as antisemitic, and a resolution on university presidents' testimony, and her vote against censuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Context, not an answer on what the United States sends.
Race and status context
- Certified candidate in the 2026 U.S. Senate primary, per the Alaska Division of Elections candidate list and Ballotpedia's race page.
- [Position, read 2026-07-17] Campaign site: affordability, and an anti-corruption plan covering term limits, stock trading and disclosure. No foreign-policy content.
- The incumbent she is challenging has his own card in this batch.
- Data note, resolved: the earlier pass recorded every tracked vote cell on this record as not-in-office. The rebuilt record carries four real House votes with roll-call sources, so that defect is gone.
Also in this race: Gerald L. (Jerry) Heikes (Republican), Dan S. Sullivan (Republican), Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. (Republican) · All Alaska candidates.
See the full record →But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps. Open the interactive card for votes, funding and contact details.