Peltola cites fuel costs as barrier to rural Alaska campaign stops

Mary Peltola's U.S. Senate campaign says high fuel prices are making it harder to reach Alaska's off-road-system communities. The campaign has completed a tour of villages and island towns using small planes, boats, and seaplanes.

The campaign visited Toksook Bay, Quinhagak, St. Mary's, Pilot Station, Hooper Bay, Chevak, Scammon Bay, Petersburg, Wrangell, Metlakatla, Ketchikan, Sitka, and Haines. More than 80 percent of Alaska is not on the road system. Traditional campaign advertising does not reach thousands of voters in those communities.

The most recent leg of the tour covered six Southeast Alaska communities and ended in Haines. During community meet-and-greets, residents raised concerns about housing costs, healthcare cuts, fisheries management, public radio funding, and the Marine Highway System.

Rural Alaska fuel prices averaged $6.63 per gallon for unleaded gasoline this winter across 99 surveyed communities, according to state data. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski noted in recent remarks that some rural communities face gas prices of up to $15 per gallon, making it hard to power communities or fill gas tanks for subsistence hunting and fishing.

The campaign said it aims to reach more than 220 villages across Alaska using what it calls a "person-to-person, human-to-human, mukluk telegraph" approach. That means relying on small planes, boats, and seaplanes to connect with voters in communities that cannot be reached through traditional advertising.

Peltola is challenging Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan for his U.S. Senate seat in 2026.