Peltola calls for 12-year congressional term limits, asks Alaska legislature to act

Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola published a Fox News op-ed Sunday calling for 12-year term limits on Congress and asking the Alaska State Legislature to pass its own term limit measure as a legal pathway to federal reform.

The proposal would cap service in the U.S. House and Senate at 12 years, with a carveout allowing current officeholders one additional term after enactment. "To those who serve in the House of Representatives or the Senate, if you can't get something worthwhile done in 12 years, it's time to go home," Peltola wrote. "Working people across this country can't afford more of the same. We need a system that works for them, not career politicians and the shady special interests who keep them in their seats. Red or blue, we all benefit from a Congress that has a deadline."

Peltola tied the argument to grocery and gas prices. "You can't fix the cost of living without first fixing the people in charge of fixing it," she wrote.

The op-ed arrived the same day Cook Political Report shifted the Alaska Senate race from Lean Republican to Toss-Up. Peltola, a former U.S. representative who served Alaska's at-large congressional district from 2022 to 2025, faces incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The Aug. 18 primary is the next formal milestone.

A Legal Obstacle

The Supreme Court held in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton in 1995 that states cannot add qualifications for federal office beyond those in the Constitution. Binding federal term limits would require a constitutional amendment. Peltola acknowledged the constraint, writing that she has "called on Alaska to lead by passing term limits at the state level to open a legal pathway through the courts."

The Alaska State Legislature has not scheduled any action on the proposal.