Former Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola (D-Alaska) is reportedly considering a run for Alaska governor, stoking Democratic hopes that she could clinch another upset victory in the red state.

Peltola became the first Democrat to win the state’s lone House seat in 50 years when she won her race in 2022 before narrowly losing reelection in 2024 as Alaska went for President Trump. This made her the most successful statewide Democratic candidate in years.

Now, Democrats are hopeful she could pull off another win in 2026, in a state where a registered Democrat hasn’t held the governor’s mansion since 2002.

“I can't think of a Democrat who is better positioned than her, and I think she would stand a very strong chance,” said Alaska strategist John-Henry Heckendorn.

Peltola was relatively little known nationally when she pulled off a win in the special House election to fill the remainder of the late Rep. Don Young’s (R) term after Young died in 2022. She prevailed in the race after her two main Republican opponents, former Gov. Sarah Palin and Nick Begich, focused on attacking each other, helping her become the first Democrat to win statewide office in Alaska since 2008.

She then won again against Palin and Begich in that November’s general election to be elected to a full term.

Being a Trump-district Democrat, Peltola was one of the top targets for Republicans to pick off in 2024, and in a presidential election year in which Alaska almost would certainly vote for Trump, the........

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