Nigger

Former Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola, the Democrat challenging Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, faces fresh allegations from former staffers that she used a racial slur in 2024 while in office. According to a report from the Alaska Landmine, two former aides, speaking anonymously, claim Peltola used the slur after an October 2024 dinner honoring African American soldiers who helped build the Alaska-Canada Highway during World War II, reportedly directing it at a veteran and former NAACP official who organized the event.

The claim follows a New York Times investigation, based on accounts from roughly two dozen former staffers, describing a pattern of verbal and physical abuse in Peltola's office, including use of other slurs, which led to a staff shake-up ahead of the primary. Peltola's campaign has denied the latest allegation, calling it a lie from a disgruntled former staffer.

The controversy comes as Peltola seeks to unseat Sullivan in a race with implications for Senate control, though observers note Alaska's small Black population may limit its electoral impact.

The Houston Chronicle's editorial "Thumbs" column took aim at several local and state political stories this week. It criticized Chris Brown, Mayor John Whitmire's senior advisor for financial integrity, for swiping into work only a handful of times over nearly two years while earning a six-figure salary; Brown defended himself by calling his work "project- and output-based." The column praised Whitmire for personally funding the installation of Pride banners on Westheimer Boulevard, a response to last year's removal of a rainbow crosswalk in Montrose under pressure from Gov. Greg Abbott.

The piece also noted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican Senate nominee, reportedly told a private gathering that the Trump-led GOP convention hurt Republican candidates, a claim his campaign denies; Sen. John Cornyn, whom Paxton defeated in the primary, called it a "self-inflicted wound." Other items touched on a Houston Astros playoff berth, writer Bryan Washington's MacArthur "genius grant," and Sen. Ted Cruz's bipartisan Protect College Sports Act.