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Alaska Democratic Senate hopeful Mary Peltola faced ridicule Thursday night after her use of notecards during a debate with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan drew mocking responses from GOP critics — including a pointed jab from her incumbent opponent.
Sullivan is in an unusually close race with Peltola, a former congresswoman, that is further complicated by another candidate with his same name but a different middle initial, as Republicans fight to hold their narrow Senate majority.
“Really, Mary? Reading off a script? You can’t cue-card your way through the Senate,” Sullivan wrote on X after Peltola appeared to have a notecard-sized paper with bullet points that she looked down at for several seconds while responding to earlier questions.
The criticism quickly became a flashpoint in the candidates’ debate-night exchanges, with Republican commentators seizing on Peltola’s apparent use of prepared notes.
“Mary, blink twice if you are okay. It seems you can’t string a sentence together without reading from the talking points your Lower 48 handlers wrote you,” NRSC official Joanna Rodriguez posted on X.
Another social media user took aim at Peltola’s apparent reliance on notes even while discussing personal details.
“Mary Peltola can’t read her name or that she’s a grandmother without needing a cue card,” the user wrote, adding a laughing emoji.
After Peltola appeared to read from her card another time, Sullivan cut in that he had a question for the moderators.
“We weren’t supposed to get these questions beforehand, were we?” he asked the debate moderators.
“No sir,” Alaska’s News Source reporter Wil Courtney replied. “Absolutely not,” added Alaska Public Media chief editor Lori Townsend.
“OK,” Sullivan said. “I’m just watching my opponent.”
Peltola defended herself, interjecting that she was better “prepared.”
The Republican Party’s research arm hit back on X, highlighting a clip of Peltola appearing to read from her card:
“Mary Peltola — who did not introduce a single bill to help Alaska fisherman during her first term in Congress — has to read off of a script when talking about Alaska’s fishing industry,” the party tweeted.
The debate also turned personal when Sullivan confronted Peltola over allegations that she mistreated former staffers, citing reporting by The New York Times and claiming that 25 employees had quit while working for her.
Peltola rejected the allegations as “outright fabrications or mass exaggerations of the truth,” arguing that the election should not be about her “worst day.”
The heated exchange prompted moderators to call for decorum and warn that microphones could be shut off if the candidates continued interrupting one another.
Sullivan maintained that the allegations reflected a pattern of behavior, while Peltola accused her opponent of exploiting the controversy for political gain.
The candidates also faced questions over Alaska’s long-discussed liquefied natural gas pipeline after moderators reported South Korea had not committed to investing in the project despite President Trump’s public promotion of a potential deal.
Sullivan defended the administration’s efforts, arguing Seoul had committed funding through a broader trade agreement while acknowledging that the specific investment amount remained under negotiation.
Peltola also expressed support for the pipeline but cautioned against raising expectations without firm commitments, saying Alaska should not be “promoting falsehoods that just have no substance.”
Both candidates emphasized the project’s economic potential, although the exchange exposed uncertainty over whether promised foreign investment would materialize.
Peltola previously became the first Democrat in decades to represent Alaska in the House after the death of Republican Rep. Don Young, and her Senate candidacy again carries potentially sweeping statewide and national repercussions.
The showdown comes as Republicans fight to defend their narrow Senate majority, with Sullivan’s seat emerging as a major Democratic pickup opportunity in a state President Trump carried in 2024.
The Cook Political Report rates the contest a toss-up, making Alaska one of several battlegrounds that could determine which party controls the chamber in January.