Nick Begich. Photo courtesy of Ballotpedia.
Nick Begich is running for Alaska’s U.S. House of Representatives seat. Begich, a registered Republican, is challenging Democratic incumbent Mary Peltola. This is the third time Begich will appear on Alaskans’ ballots. He ran for the seat in 2022 in the special and general elections.
His political experience includes working as co-chair of Alaskans for Don Young, co-chair of the Alaska Republican Party Finance Committee and board president of the Alaska Policy Forum.
According to his official candidate statement — which can be found at https://www.elections.alaska.gov/candidates/ — Begich opposes “national policies that have fueled inflation and allowed mass illegal migration” and that his campaign rests on “three core pillars” of “economic growth, responsible resource development and protecting our way of life.”
Begich is a supporter of the 2nd Amendment and a member of the National Rifle Association.
Begich’s campaign website stated that, “The Second Amendment ensures one of the most critical freedoms for Americans: the right to keep and bear arms.”
Most of Begich’s career has been spent in the business sector at companies including the Matanuska Telecom Association and Ford. Begich also founded the software development company FarShore Partners — a provider of IT and digital marketing services — as well as consulting firm Dashfire, which provides software and financial advice to technology-based startups.
Begich continues to receive criticism from opponents for comments he made about Social Security on the “The Michael Dukes Show” in 2023.
“That trust fund (Social Security) has been invested in government debt from the get-go, and it’s a Ponzi scheme, and it’s used to prop the system up,” said Begich.
Begich also faced criticism in 2022, prior to Don Young’s death when he announced he would be running against the Republican congressman. Begich had worked for Young shortly before the announcement was made and some staff in Young’s office saw the move as deceitful and disloyal.
As a result, several friends and staff members of Young decided to support Mary Peltola in the 2022 elections, even writing an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News explaining their support for the Democrat.
Begich defended his decision to run in the election.
“The entire reason I was in the D.C. office was to make sure I understood more about the job itself before I decided whether to file. Don Young understood this, and though highly unusual, recognized how seriously I was taking this decision,” said Begich in a statement to E&E news.
Begich is 47 years old and has lived in Alaska for most of his life.
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