Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola accused of shoving male aide as ex-staffers throw fit over her use of retard as well as gay slur

WASHINGTON — Former Alaska Democratic Rep.Mary Peltola is prone to angry outbursts that have rankled members of her own team — using offensive terms like “retard” and “f—–” and at one point pushing a male staffer, the New York Times reported late Wednesday, citing nine ex-aides.Peltola, who served two-and-a-half years in the House after winning a special election in 2022 to replace the late Rep.

Don Young (R-Alaska), is challenging incumbent Sen.Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in a critical race that could determine the balance of power on Capitol Hill.On Feb.

7, 2024, then-Congresswoman Peltola became agitated that she couldn’t find a document and pushed the male aide on the chest, per an eyewitness and two others who were later told about the incident.The staffer later left her team.That day was the birthday of Peltola’s late husband, Eugene, who had died in a September 2023 plane crash.

Peltola’s campaign noted that her mother had also passed away around the same time.“At the time of their passing, Mary was parenting kids through their own grief, serving full-time in the US House of Representatives thousands of miles from home, and running a competitive [House] re-election campaign — all while shouldering the enormous burden of grief,” said her spokesperson, Harry Child.“Like any person who has gone through multiple personal tragedies in the span of a few months, Mary sometimes struggled to deal with her grief,” Child added.“Exaggerating and outright lying about moments from the hardest period of her life, and falsely presenting them as a pattern of behavior, is wrong.”Child also contended that Peltola acted “with respect and care” towards her staff, despite the lawmaker instituting a purge of longtime aides shortly before the Aug.

18 Senate primary — including her campaign manager, chief of staff, and two veteran political contractors who were fired or reassigned.The shakeup apparently stemmed from the 53-year-old’s frust...