Alaska U.S. Rep. Peltola says she’s open to discussing a coalition majority amid House speaker battle

As the U.S. House of Representatives slogged through its third day without a speaker Thursday, Alaska Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola said she is open to discussing a consensus candidate.

New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries “is my choice for Speaker of the House. That said, I have always been willing to work with people regardless of political party,” Peltola said in a statement provided by her chief of staff, Alex Ortiz.

Ortiz said Peltola was not available for an interview Thursday, citing her prolonged periods of time on the House floor.

“If there are members who want to form a coalition majority like we often see in Alaska, I’m open to discussing that,” Peltola said in the statement. “Anything that gets us communicating with each other rather than talking at each other would be a good thing at this point.”

While Republicans have repeatedly failed to coalesce around a candidate for speaker, House Democrats have presented a united front, and Peltola has joined them as they have voted unanimously for Jeffries, the presumptive House minority leader.

But some politicians and political pundits have floated a consensus candidate — likely a moderate Republican nominee who could draw support from both Democrats and Republicans — as one potential solution to reach the necessary 218 votes to elect a House speaker. New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has weighed in on the possibility of a coalition government, calling the whole situation “rather unprecedented” in an interview with MSNBC. However, a recent Washington Post analysis called the prospect of a coalition Speaker a “long way off” given the GOP majority’s 10-seat margin.

[US House has no members, no rules as speaker race drags on]

Alaska is no stranger to bipartisan coalitions. For example, the state House in recent years was governed by a majority coalition made up of Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans. Lawmakers elected to Alaska’s state Senate in November have formed a coalition with nine Democrats and eight Republicans for the upcoming session. The Alaska Senate between 2007 and 2012 was also governed by a coalition majority, which Peltola worked with during her time in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009.

When reporters asked Jeffries if Democrats could support a consensus candidate in the U.S. House, he responded in a Tuesday press conference, “We are looking for a willing partner to solve problems for the American people, not save the Republicans from their dysfunction.”

Like her colleagues, Peltola was scheduled to be sworn in Tuesday, but the ongoing gridlock has delayed that from happening.

The situation has frustrated many members of Congress, including Peltola. She had, as of Thursday afternoon, voted for Jeffries 10 consecutive times.

“The gridlock over the Speaker vote is not normal or good for anyone. I am not enjoying this — I don’t think anyone is, and Alaskans deserve better,” Peltola said in the statement. “There is serious legislating that needs to be done and infighting is distracting us from even starting to work on the many problems we face.”

“I came to D.C. to do the work, not to score political points against my colleagues or perform for television cameras,” she said.

Ortiz said Peltola’s office is otherwise functioning “almost completely normally,” including by providing constituent services. However, the speaker debacle has delayed committee assignments and prevented Peltola from introducing or co-sponsoring legislation.

Plus, Ortiz noted that the “incredible” amount of time Peltola has had to spend on the floor has prompted her office to reschedule some meetings. Ortiz said Peltola has hardly left the House floor over the past few days except to grab lunch from the adjacent cloakroom.

[U.S. Rep. Peltola announces staff changes ahead of 1st full term in office]

He also said Peltola is trying to spend her time off the floor with her family, who traveled to Washington, D.C., expecting to see her sworn in Tuesday.

So far, Ortiz said Peltola’s family has stayed in town, with several of her children killing time in her Capitol Hill office. Ortiz said having them around has created an “uplifting vibe” in the office, despite the disarray unfolding in the House chamber.

“Even though we’re in the middle of all this gridlock, we’ve got good energy of home,” Ortiz said.

Peltola’s campaign social media accounts have poked fun at the situation. One post includes a weary cat meme with the text, “screams internally,” saying, “ANOTHER vote for the Speaker of the House.”

Other social posts have included her kids, one asleep on the couch in her office with a cookie in his mouth, another pouring an empty pot of coffee into a mug. That post reads, “If this keeps up, we’re gonna have to switch to decaf …”