Peltola names energy costs a top priority in KTUU Senate interview

Mary Peltola named energy costs a top priority in a KTUU interview her campaign released last week, pointing to the gas prices Alaskans paid after the most recent barge delivery. Peltola is the Democratic candidate challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan for U.S. Senate.

She listed groceries, gas, utilities and health care as the costs Alaskans raise with her.

"The wages are not keeping up, the prices are runaway prices," Peltola said. "... How do we get a Washington D.C., a Congress and a Senate who's listening to Alaskans everyday problems?"

Peltola said she would work across the aisle on Alaska resource development and on policies that put money back in household budgets. Her campaign draws a direct line between what it calls the rigged system in Washington and Alaska's rising cost of living. It says its proposals are meant to reduce everyday expenses while boosting wages and local economic development.

The campaign frames the issue around working Alaska families. It argues that costs for essentials are outpacing wages, and that higher food, fuel, utility and health care prices leave households with less to cover basic expenses.

Her campaign says more than 10,000 Alaskans in over 160 communities have signed up to support her. She has campaigned in the Interior, Southeast and Western Alaska.

The account of the interview comes from Peltola's campaign. It includes no response from Sullivan.