A pet chameleon named Meatball has become an unlikely symbol in a growing controversy surrounding Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola, whose former staff members allege years of verbal abuse and at least one physical altercation inside her congressional office.
The New York Times published the allegations this week in a report authored by Kellen Browning.
Nine former aides, all speaking anonymously to shield their careers from retaliation, formed the backbone of the investigation.
More than 20 additional sources with knowledge of Peltola’s operation also spoke to the reporter, who examined upwards of 100 text message screenshots and photos during the reporting process.
Alaska’s Senate race has drawn national attention as Peltola, a Democrat, maintains a slim lead in polling over Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan.
Staffers who worked under Peltola painted a picture of a boss prone to sudden anger, with profane tirades sometimes aimed directly at employees and other times fired off about outside figures who had drawn her ire.
The most serious claim centers on a February 2024 confrontation.
A male aide searching for a misplaced meeting memo found himself shoved in the chest by Peltola, hard enough to stumble backward, according to an eyewitness on staff at the time.
Two colleagues who heard about the incident shortly after, plus text messages sent that same day, corroborated the account. The employee left his position not long afterward.
Peltola’s campaign pushed back on that version of events.
Officials said the contact was accidental, describing it as a bump rather than a shove, and linked her distracted state to the timing — the day fell on what would have been the first birthday of her late husband.
Slurs surface repeatedly throughout the Times investigation.
Four separate former employees claimed they personally witnessed Peltola say the word “faggot,” sometimes while referring to people on her own payroll.
Campaign representatives flatly rejected this claim when questioned.
A different slur, “retarded,” appears in text messages the Times reviewed and was corroborated by former aides who heard Peltola use it verbally.
In one exchange dated to earlier this year, Peltola fired off a message after a fisheries industry executive shared a selfie taken with her — an image that proved awkward given her stance against industrial-scale trawling.
“F**k that retard,” the text read, with a follow-up message adding, “Honestly. I nothing him.”
Campaign officials conceded that Peltola knew the term was offensive and felt remorse about using it.
Three former staffers and a separate text message indicated that Peltola regularly used “nothing” as slang for dismissing someone, a habit she reportedly picked up from watching the sitcom “Scrubs.”
Planned Parenthood also appears as a target in the leaked messages.
During her 2024 reelection push for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, Peltola texted: “I hope Planned Parenthood knows that if we don’t win it’s more their loss than ours. F**K THOSE BITCHES.”
A harsher message followed later that year, seemingly aimed at a woman who sits on the board of the area’s Planned Parenthood chapter: “I hope she dies of a botched abortion.”
Notably, Planned Parenthood’s political wing backed Peltola’s prior House campaigns but has stayed silent on endorsing her current run for Senate.
Beyond the profanity, staffers described bizarre workplace expectations, including being tasked with catching and feeding live crickets to Meatball, a chameleon belonging to Peltola’s family.
Morale inside the campaign reportedly suffered as a result of the environment.
Text messages reviewed by the Times showed aides expressing exhaustion and anxiety, with some employees reduced to tears and others openly weighing whether to quit.
Timing has fueled further scrutiny.
Just weeks before Alaska’s primary election last month, the campaign parted ways with campaign manager Elisa Rios, a veteran adviser, alongside a deputy campaign manager and two contractors.
Anton McParland, who had co-managed the Senate campaign after serving as Peltola’s congressional chief of staff, was reassigned to a consulting role around the same time.
Campaign representatives framed the departures as ordinary staffing adjustments ahead of the general election push.
Two sources familiar with the shakeup told the Times a different story, however, linking the timing directly to one of Peltola’s angry episodes.
A campaign spokesman denied that any pattern of mistreatment exists when the Times presented its findings.
While disputing the specifics of certain incidents, the spokesman did acknowledge regret over some of the language captured in the messages.
Nothing on this scale involving Peltola’s temperament had reached public view before this report, according to the Times.
