The fight for the future of American democracy is here, and Alaska is on the front lines. At the center of the fight: two Alaska Native fishermen from rural Alaska taking on well-heeled political dynasties and a corrupt Washington, D.C. establishment. 

Mary Peltola (Yup’ik) grew up along the Kuskokwim River, fishing with her family and spending her childhood between communities like Kwethluk and Bethel. She went on to represent Bethel and dozens of surrounding villages in the Alaska Legislature before becoming the first Alaska Native ever elected to Congress.

Bill Hill (Dena’ina Athabascan) grew up in Kokhanok chopping wood, packing water, hunting, trapping and fishing to help his family put food on the table. He started commercial fishing at the age of eight, and has fished Bristol Bay every season since. He spent nearly 25 years as a teacher, principal and superintendent, eventually being named Alaska Superintendent of the Year.

Now, remarkably, both are the leading candidates for Alaska’s two seats in Congress that are on the ballot, at a moment when the rest of the country is looking to Alaska to lead us out of the darkness. 

Beating incumbent Republicans in Alaska is never easy. It doesn’t help that the Republicans in question, Nick Begich and Dan Sullivan, are multimillionaires from entrenched political families. But that’s what Mary Peltola and Bill Hill set out to do, and for the sake of our state and country let’s hope they pull it off. 

Nick Begich and Dan Sullivan have spent their time in DC enriching themselves while rubber stamping the health care cuts, tariffs, and war that has made life in Alaska painfully expensive. They have also willfully turned a blind eye to rampant corruption, attacks on free speech, and the corrosion of the rule of law. And too afraid to out their billionaire backers, they both voted against releasing the Epstein files. 

Now the D.C. elite are throwing the kitchen sink at saving them, pouring millions into the Senate and House race to try to trick Alaskans into voting for more of the same. 

Fortunately, Alaskans are pretty good at seeing through B.S. and have a better alternative: two lifelong Alaskans who have spent more time working in Xtratufs than suits. 

It’s time for a Congress with a backbone. A Congress that will stand up against illegal tariffs and a war that’s making everything more expensive. That will put working families above billionaires. And defend our democracy against the rampant corruption and attacks on the rule of law that are becoming frighteningly normalized.

Let’s make it happen. Vote Mary Pelotla and Bill Hill this November. 

Elizabeth Johnson is a retired attorney and small business owner based in Anchorage