First Woman Elected to Congress Representing Alaska

 Last week the Associated Press reported that Mary Peltola, a member of the Alaska State Legislature won the August 31st election to represent Alaska in the U.S. House of Representative. Ms. Peltola is the first woman to hold Alaska's sole House seat. Ms. Peltola, a Democrat, will fill the remainder of Congressman Donald Young's term. Representative Young, who was a Republican, served as Alaska's representative in the U.S.  House of Representatives for 49 years. Representative Young died in March 2022.

Ms. Peltola is also the first  Alaska Native (a Yup'ik) to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Ms. Young beat out challengers, including former Governor and Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin.

This Congressional seat will be up for re-election this coming November. The Link to the AP News report and NPR on Ms. Peltola's background are below.

https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-sarah-palin-voting-government-and-politics-f9855f1138a922ab1147da7900819fa8

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/05/1120805820/mary-peltola-the-first-alaska-native-heading-to-congress-journeys-home-to-the-ri