Two former aides say Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola repeatedly used the n-word in 2024, claims her Senate campaign dismisses as an outright lie from a right-wing blog.
Anonymous former staffers who worked in then-Rep. Mary Peltola’s House office and on her campaign told the Alaska Landmine that the Democrat used the racial slur in separate episodes last year, Breitbart reported.
One episode allegedly followed a poorly attended October 25, 2024 dinner. A second came during a spring 2024 campaign meeting. Peltola’s campaign called the account false and said she would never use the word.
The allegations landed as Peltola, a former U.S. House member from Alaska, runs for Senate against Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in a race that could help decide control of the chamber. They also followed a New York Times report that described a pattern of angry outbursts, a shove, and slurs across her years in office.
The October episode centered on a dinner meant to honor roughly 4,000 African American soldiers who helped build the Alaska-Canada Highway during World War II.
Ed Wesley, an Army veteran, former commander of American Legion Post 34, and former president of the Anchorage NAACP, promoted the event. A former aide said Wesley pressed the campaign to buy tables and promised to fill them.
The campaign purchased eight tables at $1,000 each. An October 18, 2024 Federal Election Commission filing shows $8,000 paid to Eventbrite for tickets. Peltola did not attend. The tables sat mostly empty.
After staff told her about the turnout, one former aide alleged, Peltola grew angry, called Wesley a “scammer,” and said she could not believe “that n****r.”
The staffer recalled the line this way:
"I can’t believe that n****r,"
That same aide said Peltola had previously used the slur “f****t” when referring to gay staffers, and that the aide had grown numb to such language.
A second former staffer described a different 2024 episode. In a spring campaign meeting, opposition research turned up YouTube videos of Peltola’s son, Job Nelson, performing self-produced rap music that frequently used the n-word.
The second staffer alleged Peltola herself then used the n-word multiple times in that meeting. The staffer said the channel was later deleted.
The reaction inside the room, per that account, was immediate fear rather than pushback:
"It shocked everyone in the room,"
The second staffer said no one confronted her, out of fear. Both former aides spoke to the Alaska Landmine only on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation.
The Peltola campaign did not respond to the Landmine before publication. Afterward it rejected the story in blunt terms.
The campaign called the report:
"an outright lie published by a right-wing gossip blogger."
It added a categorical denial on the language itself:
"Mary would never use this word, which is a vile slur with a painful, hateful history."
No on-the-record response from Wesley or from Job Nelson appears in the reporting. The staffers remain unnamed. Specific venues for the dinner and the spring meeting beyond the Alaska House-office and campaign setting were not detailed.
The Landmine account did not arrive in isolation. Weeks earlier, the New York Times published a report describing angry outbursts, a shove, and slurs spanning Peltola’s time in office. The newer staffer claims add concrete 2024 episodes, one tied to an empty fundraiser-style dinner for Black WWII troops, another to her son’s deleted rap channel, to that earlier portrait.
Peltola built a public brand as a mainstream Alaska Democrat. Her former aides now allege she used some of the same slurs progressive politics treats as disqualifying when they come from the right. Her campaign’s answer was not a point-by-point rebuttal of dates, meetings, or witnesses. It was to label the outlet a right-wing gossip blog and insist she would never say the word.
Sullivan, the incumbent Republican, has not been quoted responding to these specific claims in the available reporting. The contest remains one of the seats that could tip the Senate.
Voters can read the denials. They can also read what two people who say they worked for her claim they heard when the tables sat empty and the videos surfaced.
