Alaska businessman Nick Begich III is making his second run for Alaska’s sole Alaska U.S. House of Representatives seat. A staunch Republican, Begich comes from a family of Alaska politicians, including his grandfather and two uncles.
His grandfather Nick Begich, Sr. was an Alaska state senator and then Alaska’s U.S. representative until his disappearance following a plane crash in October 1972. Mark Begich was a U.S. senator for a term and Anchorage mayor before that. Tom Begich was a state senator from 2017 to 2023.
Begich has consistently called for reining in federal spending, citing it for rampant inflation that hammered the American economy and drove up prices. Inflation rose worldwide in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and correlating supply chain problems.
“The inflation that we’ve experienced under the Joe Biden economy, a president that you have supported in his tenure, has been crippling for small businesses and for families, and it’s been caused strictly by a dramatic increase in the money supply,” Begich said during an Oct. 11 candidate forum in Fairbanks.
Begich stressed that the federal government should rationally think about spending increases and how it would impact future generations.
He supports extending Trump-era federal tax cuts implemented under the Tax Reduction Act of 2017 and stronger federal sanctions against Russia.
He strongly supports resource development in Alaska, including the planned Alaska LNG pipeline, opening up the North Slope for more oil development, and construction of the Ambler Road, a 211-mile private haul road from the Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District.
“At the end of the day, we’re a resource state, whether it’s oil and gas, minerals, timber, fishing, tourism; these are all resources that we have, and we’ve got to be 100% all-in for those resources,” during an Alaska Chamber-sponsored forum in Anchorage on Oct. 22.
Ambler Road, he said, was constitutionally promised as part of the 1970 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. However, the Biden administration effectively killed the project this year when it denied a road permit across federally-owned lands in a final environmental record of decision.
“The state of Alaska selected these lands, and a fundamental principle of real estate law is that you can’t have stranded lands. You have to be able to access them. That’s why it was a provision within ANILCA.”
He told reporters after the Fairbanks forum that tribal concerns over the road’s impacts are secondary to access to critical minerals. But there is room to maneuver.
“We can’t sacrifice our environment for resource development,” Begich said. “We have to have strong standards for resource development. I believe those standards are in place.”
During Kodiak’s fisheries debate, he called fishing a critical part of the state’s economy and way of life.
“Fish is not a Democrat or Republican issue,” Begich said. “This is one of a few issues, I would say at the moment, that we should be able to work on in a bipartisan fashion.”
On social issues such as abortion, Begich said he supported local control over national bans.
“I believe in local control, and this is something that we decide locally. And no, I would not support a ban or a guarantee,” he said during an Oct. 10 forum hosted by Alaska Public Media and KTUU-TV in Anchorage.
Begich has been upfront in saying he will vote for Donald J. Trump for president. The former Republican president and Republican nominee endorsed Begich for the Alaska U.S. House in September after Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom withdrew from the race.
During an Oct. 10 forum hosted by Alaska Public Media and KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Begich questioned the results of the 2020 presidential elections. The former president has continuously falsely claimed he won the 2020 election.
“He was elected president,” Begich said. “The techniques that were used in order to get him elected, I don’t think they’re legitimate.”
Begich said he opposes Alaska’s current ranked-choice voting system and supports it’s repeal efforts.
“I think we need to make sure that the system that we have best reflects the will of the people,” he said at the Oct. 22 forum. “I think the system that does that best is our traditional voting system.”
Neither Begich or Rep. Mary Peltola responded to News-Miner candidate questionnaires.
