“F THOSE B*TCHES”: Why queer voters aren’t canceling Mary Peltola over her NYT exposé

The New York Times has published an exposé on a high-profile Democratic Senate candidate that accuses of her using offensive language in private, including the f-slur.

And the reaction on the left, including among queer people, is little more than a collective shrug.

With the midterms just weeks away, the timing of the Times piece is in question.

Polls out of Alaska show Democrat Mary Peltola with a lead over Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, providing Dems with a prime pick-up opportunity. They need a net-gain of four seats to control the Upper Chamber, a tall task in these hyperpartisan times.

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But with Tr*mp’s approval rating in the toilet, and fuel prices skyrocketing due to the disastrous Iran War, Democrats are competitive in several red states.

Alaska is one of them.

An Alaskan native, Peltola grew up in a fishing family in the remote Western part of the state. The former congresswoman is widely believed to be a great fit for Alaska: she received the most votes in the so-called “jungle primary.”

But she might not be the greatest match for the Democratic staffer class. And increasingly, the electorate doesn’t seem to care.

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What are the accusations?

The Times spoke with nine of Peltola’s former staffers for the story. They say she’s prone to “angry and profane outbursts,” and solicits aids for unusual requests.

Four ex-staffers say they’ve heard Peltola use the f-slur over the years, sometimes directing the slur towards staff members.

Staffers also accused her of using the r-word, and produced corroborating texts.

In other texts, Peltola lambasted Planned Parenthood after the organization had scrutinized one of her votes for a defense bill that included anti-abortion policies.

“F THOSE B*TCHES,” she wrote in a January 2024 text. (The Times notes that Planned Parenthood hasn’t endorsed Peltola this cycle.)

As far as the strange requests, three staff members said that she asked underlings to feed her daughter’s pet chameleon (he ate live crickets).

Staffers say that “exemplified the disregard” that Peltola held for her employees in Congress.

What’s Peltola saying?

Peltola’s campaign says she “recognized” the r-word was inappropriate and regrets using it. The campaign denies that she ever said the f-slur. As of press time, she hasn’t addressed the accusations on her social channels.

The Times article did include a longer statement from her campaign. It mentions that Peltola’s mother and husband both passed away over a few months in 2023, with her husband dying in a plane crash.

“At the time of their passing, Mary was parenting kids through their own grief, serving full-time in the U.S. House of Representatives thousands of miles from home, and running a competitive re-election campaign—all while shouldering the enormous burden of grief,” said her spokesperson.

“Like any person who has gone through multiple personal tragedies in the span of a few months, Mary sometimes struggled to deal with her grief.”

The Times mentions that “several people” who worked with Peltola described positive experiences. “Mary Peltola is one of the finest human beings that I’ve ever worked for,” said her ex-fundraiser.

A double-standard

The Times story on Peltola reminded many people of a similar exposé the grey lady published about Amy Klobuchar. In that 2019 article, ex-Klobuchar staffers accused the Minnesota Senator of berating aids. (One amusing anecdote was that Klobuchar once ate salad with a comb when an aid forgot utensils.)

At the time, Klobuchar was running for president.

Over the ensuing years, Klobuchar has established herself as one of the most popular pols in America. She handedly won reelection in 2024 and is the heavy favorite to win Minnesota’s governor race.

There are almost certainly plenty of demanding, and downright cruel, men in positions of power. But yet, it’s the women who get called out…

Not making excuses, but…

There’s no denying the allegations against Peltola are unpleasant. In one text, she said she hopes Planned Parenthood board member “dies of a botched abortion.” That’s a bad and nasty thing to say.

But sometimes in politics, there are binary choices. Unsurprisingly, Republicans are already using the Times report as campaign ammunition.

When it comes to issues like LGBTQ+ rights and abortion access, Peltola will be a far better advocate than Alaska’s current senator, a right-wing Republican.

For a lot of queer people, that’s enough. We’ve seen what happens when we turn the targets on ourselves.

We want Dems to be more passionate and less whiny and then get bent out of shape when they aren't completely deferential to their staffers. This lady is good and her politics are good and that should be the end of it— Gregory Boettner (@GregoryBoettner) September 24, 2026

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