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 â 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.
GOP SENATOR, EX-HOUSE DEM EMERGE FROM ALASKAS JUNGLE PRIMARY DESPITE FAR-LEFT MEDDLING
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.
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“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. “Im 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 â who did not introduce a single bill to help Alaska fisherman during her first term in Congress â 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 lon
