FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2026
August 11, 2026
Contact:
Tim Kauffman
202-374-6491
[email protected]
Largest Federal Employee Union Endorses Alaska’s Mary Peltola and Bill Hill for Election to Congress
Categories:
Senate, Congress, Election 2026, House
AFGE says Peltola and Hill are labor champions who will fight for Alaskans
AURORA, Colo. – The American Federation of Government Employees today announced its endorsement of Mary Peltola for election to the U.S. Senate and Bill Hill for election to U.S. House representing Alaska in the 2026 elections. The statewide primary is Aug. 18, and the general election is Nov. 3.
“Alaska has the third-highest percentage of labor union membership and one of the highest percentages of federal employees in the USA,” AFGE District 11 National Vice President Tim Snyder said. “We are proud to endorse two labor champions who know firsthand the concerns of workers in Alaska. Mary and Bill have reached out to our local leaders to get to know them and their concerns and have earned this endorsement.”
Mary Peltola, U.S. Senate
Mary Peltola is a lifelong Alaskan, a mother of seven, and a proven champion for all Alaska workers and families. She began fishing with her father at age six before becoming a fishing boat captain at age 14. She also worked as a herring and salmon technician for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game during college. After being elected to the state legislature at the age of 24, Peltola chaired the bipartisan Bush Caucus, which helped lower energy prices and improve public safety for rural Alaskans.
Peltola has fought for Alaska by leading the coalition to secure the Willow Oil Project – the largest development of Alaska oil in recent history and a source of stable, well-paying union jobs; launching the fight against factory trawlers in 2022 and fighting for first-of-its-kind legislation to ban bottom trawling; and organizing town halls across the state and rallying Alaskans to successfully stop the Kroger-Albertson’s merger that would have raised grocery prices and hurt workers.
As Alaksa’s representative in the U.S. House from 2022 to 2025, Peltola cosponsored the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would enshrine Alaska workers’ right to collectively bargain, and the Social Security Fairness Act, which would ensure all workers receive the full measure of their hard-earned benefits. She is committed to protecting federal employees from shortsighted political decisions in D.C. Peltola will continue to fight for the rights of federal workers to collectively bargain and will fight to restore that right to our federal employees, including those in the Department of Defense who have lost their contracts.
Bill Hill, U.S. House
Bill Hill grew up in a small village in Bristol Bay, Alaska. A commercial fisherman who has also worked in construction, Hill joined his dad on the family fishing boat when he was 12 and has been fishing every fishing season in Bristol Bay since. A son of two teachers, Hill spent nearly 25 years working as a teacher, principal, and superintendent and was named Alaska Superintendent of the Year in 2023.
He’s a proud union member, having been a member of both the Laborers’ Union and the NEA. Hill wants to be the No. 1 champion in Congress for the PRO Act and he will fight to defend public employees’ rights to organize, believing that all workers should have those important rights.
More than 15,000 federal employees live in Alaska – caring for veterans, supporting the military, ensuring the safety of our air and water, and getting Social Security recipients their benefits accurately and on time.
AFGE is the largest federal employee union in the country, representing more than 820,000 federal and D.C. government workers in all functions of government. AFGE represents more than 68,500 federal employees in District 11, which includes Alaska, Colorado, Guam, Idaho, Montana, Okinawa, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
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