Former Democratic congresswoman and U.S. Senate hopeful Mary Peltola spent Wednesday rallying supporters on the central Kenai Peninsula. With less than a week before Election Day, Peltola positioned the 2026 Midterms as a “moral moment” and urged supporters to keep energy high in the final days of the race.
About 50 people mingled in Peltola’s Soldotna field office. Some browsed beanies and tote bags at a merchandise table. Outside, others braved the cold morning to stand in line for reindeer dogs off the grill.
Barbara Norbeck stood under a wall-mounted baleen frond, surrounded by “Mary for Alaska” signs, as she explained why she’s voting for Peltola.
“I believe in Mary and what she stands for,” Norbeck said. “She's Alaskan. She understands the state.”
Norbeck is volunteering with Peltola’s campaign. She said it has mostly meant knocking on a lot of doors and talking to voters. She estimates she can hit 30-plus homes during a three-hour shift. Norbeck said her first priority is ensuring people get to their polling place on Election Day. Her second priority is getting people to vote for Peltola.
“That face-to-face, that you know, eyeball-to-eyeball contact – people appreciate that,” she said. “They know that this is a grassroots effort, and they just appreciate the fact that we are making the effort, and that that says something about how important this race is to us.”
Peltola’s platform resonates with Doug Norbeck – he’s Barbara’s husband and a self-described “cradle Democrat.”
“That means I believe in a platform that works for the people,” he said. “I’m for Medicare for all, universal health care, and for affordable rent or housing. I don't think our system is sustainable. I think this country is in decline because everything goes to the well-to-do, and we're not taking care of other people.”
The crowd grew quiet, then cheered when Peltola walked in.
After greeting the room, Peltola rattled off her hallmark campaign talking points: affordability for Alaskans, ending corporate greed and the war in Iran, and the importance of protecting and rebuilding fisheries. And she underscored the imminence of Election Day.
“It's coming right up in six days,” Peltola said. “We've got to get out there. It's not over yet. We can't sit back yet. This is going to be neck-and-neck, and it's going to come down to whose people get out and vote. Seeing this packed room makes me so happy, and I just – I can feel the momentum. It's almost like that car going 50 that hit me on Saturday night.”
Peltola was rear-ended in a car accident on Saturday.
She pointed out local elected officials in the audience, whose experience include time on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, local city council and in the Alaska Legislature.
“We all know how important public service is, and this is the gig I want,” she said. “I want the public service gig. I want being of service to Alaskans. That's the job I want.”
Soldotna was the second stop on Peltola’s Kenai Peninsula tour. She also hit Homer and Seward.
The event coincided with the publication of a New York Times story that says her campaign secretly recruited a candidate with the same name as her main opponent, Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, to siphon votes away from him.
Speaking in Soldotna, Peltola dismissed the story as a distraction from Alaska’s substantive issues.
“Nobody's waking up worried about ballot composition,” she said. “Not even me. I'm worried about my bills. I'm worried about affordability in health care. This is just another distraction. It's another diversion. Every day, it's some new, you know, ‘look over here’ moment.”
Peltola ended the visit by taking pictures with attendees, who queued near the front door.
Jaeden Randal is a student and union leader at Kenai Peninsula College. He said election integrity and fishing are important issues.
“She supports what's right,” he said. “She supports fishing. She supports all that. And I want someone that actually will stand for what's right. Stand for democracy.”
Fisheries are also important to Billie Cadzow Warren, from Fort Yukon, who also backs the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.
“We need jobs and we need a pipeline going, you know, because all these young people need jobs, and hopefully it'll go through,” she said.
National polls show Peltola with a slight lead in Alaska’s close U.S. Senate race. President Donald Trump’s administration has already filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block certification of the race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan does not win.
Sullivan held a campaign rally of his own a little over a week ago in Kenai.
Trump says Peltola should be prosecuted for her campaign’s apparent involvement with the other Dan Sullivan’s candidacy. On Wednesday, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy directed the state Department of Public Safety to investigate whether the ballot coordination violated Alaska law.
Election Day is Nov. 3.
