Nick Begich III, a Republican candidate for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, talks about wanting to maximize mining in the state to provide materials beneficial to electric vehicles during the ninth annual Juneau EV & EBIKE Roundup on Saturday. Begich, who finished third among the major candidates for the seat in the August special election and remains in that spot in polls about six weeks before the November general election, spent Saturday at numerous campaign-related events in town. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire).

Nick Begich III, a Republican candidate for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, talks about wanting to maximize mining in the state to provide materials beneficial to electric vehicles during the ninth annual Juneau EV & EBIKE Roundup on Saturday. Begich, who finished third among the major candidates for the seat in the August special election and remains in that spot in polls about six weeks before the November general election, spent Saturday at numerous campaign-related events in town. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire).

Begich: Third climb is the charm

Republican challenger staying the course despite trailing in recent recent polling and fundraising

Nick Begich III rejects the premise he’s the proverbial “third man” in the U.S. House race, despite finishing in that position in the primary and remaining there in polls six weeks before the general election.

“We’ve had international press that we’ve talked to throughout the race,” the Anchorage Republican and businessman said. But while the headlines of those Outside stories are almost always about one or both of his “celebrity” opponents “I’m not so much worried about what the headlines are…it’s the message that matters.”

Begich, who visited Juneau for a variety of campaign-related events Saturday, was an early favorite to be Alaska’s U.S. representative following the death of longtime Rep. Don Young in March. The political pros still say Begich, co-chair of Young’s 2020 reelection campaign, would be the best bet — if only.

As in, if only he wasn’t facing fellow Republican Sarah Palin in addition to having a traditional Democratic opponent in Mary Peltola, the surprise winner of the Aug. 16 special election to temporarily replace Young until the end of his term in January. The three-way race is due to the state’s new ranked choice voting system, where surveys show the Donald Trump-backed Palin is consistently out-polling Begich — eliminating him in the “instant runoff” — and then losing to Peltola when the second-choice votes of residents are tallied.

The special election resulted in Peltola getting about 40% of first-choice votes, Palin 31% and Begich 28%, with enough Begich voters either ranking Peltola second or leaving that box blank to give the Democrat the head-to-head win over Palin. The most recent poll released Friday shows a 50/27/20 first-choice preference among respondents, but Begich rejects the implication he’s falling further behind his opponents.

“I think that poll has a very high margin of error,” he said (4.9%, according to the polling company Dittman Research). “It was also conducted after Mary Peltola was sworn in. I think there’s sort of a peak in that favorability.”

Peltola, a state legislator from 1999 to 2009, was an unknown outside Alaska until her win in the special election put her in the international spotlight as the first Alaska Native in Congress and the state’s first Democratic U.S. House member in nearly half a century. Adding to the hype was her head-to-head defeat of Palin, the former governor who also rose from anonymity to fame when she was selected as the Republic vice-presidential nominee in 2008, then backed by Trump this year for her proclaimed “political comeback.”

The Democrat has continued to generate recent headlines, due in part to her joining the state’s two Republican senators in supporting the Willow project that would allow oil development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. She also has spent much of the past week in Western Alaska after Typhoon Merbok caused massive damage to communities along 1,000 miles of coastline, including her hometown of Bethel.

Begich, when asked what he would have done differently than Peltola on policy matters the past few weeks, referred to the Democrat refusing to join the senators in a letter this week to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland reiterating strong support for the proposed 200-mile Ambler Road that would allow access a mineral-rich area in northwest Alaska.

“I would have signed on to that letter,” Begich said.

Begich, who is making resource development a cornerstone policy issue of his campaign, used an appearance at an annual electric vehicle gathering in Juneau on Saturday to tell attendees maximizing mining will provide the raw materials needed for such technology to succeed. In an interview after his speech at the event, he singled out minerals such as cobalt that’s used for purposes such as superalloys that can be plentifully and responsibly mined in Alaska in comparison to current leading producers such as Congo and Russia.

He has more in common on issues – but a notoriously more contentious personal conflict — with Palin, although Begich said he’s both more able to work with people and more of an actual advocate in some policy areas than the former governor. Begich got the attention of an audience and the press last week at a candidate forum by bringing up the long-ago and much-ridiculed “road to nowhere” in Ketchikan, arguing if Palin hadn’t waffled and withdrawn her initial support there might now be housing on the adjacent island that could have lessened the town’s current shortage.

Also, while Palin draws comparisons to other Trump-backed Republican U.S. House members such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Begich on Saturday expressed his support for party leaders such as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Begich also expressed enthusiasm for the Republican House leadership agenda announced Friday if they retake control of the chamber following the election, which as expected is proving heavily decisive along partisan lines.

“I think it’s an exciting plan,” he said. “I think it starts to put people back in control of the government.”

But rallying from third place to be a part of trying to implement that plan starting in January is a sizeable challenge in the nation’s biggest state, which Begich is facing with a financial situation that also finds him in third place in terms of campaign contributions as of the most recent federal filing period. Peltola’s fundraising skyrocketed along with her profile, raising $1.53 million between July 28 and Sept. 5, while Palin raised about $228,300 and Begich about $118,000.

Furthermore, there are at present no public signs Republican organizations at the national level are inclined to “target” Alaska by investing heavily in Begich’s campaign on the theory boosting him past Palin into second place will result in an ultimate victory over Peltola.

As with the polls, Begich isn’t publicly expressing concern about his contributions.

“As Al Gross proved, money isn’t everything,” Begich said with wry humor, referring to the independent candidate who finished third in the special election primary in June, only to surprisingly drop out immediately afterward.

Begich said he’s planning numerous additional visits to Juneau before the election, asserting that keeping his current strategy of more frequent and intense person-to-person campaigning than Palin and Peltola will ultimately win over Alaska voters.

“We’re going to continue to travel the state as we have been,” he said.

• Contact reporter Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Dec. 22

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, Dec. 18, 2024. The Senate passed bipartisan legislation early Saturday that would give full Social Security benefits to a group of public sector retirees who currently receive them at a reduced level, sending the bill to President JOE Biden. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
Congress OKs full Social Security benefits for public sector retirees, including 15,000 in Alaska

Biden expected to sign bill that eliminates government pension offset from benefits.

Pauline Plumb and Penny Saddler carry vegetables grown by fellow gardeners during the 29th Annual Juneau Community Garden Harvest Fair on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Dunleavy says he plans to reestablish state Department of Agriculture via executive order

Demoted to division status after statehood, governor says revival will improve food production policies.

Alan Steffert, a project engineer for the City and Borough of Juneau, explains alternatives considered when assessing infrastructure improvements including utilities upgrades during a meeting to discuss a proposed fee increase Thursday night at Thunder Mountain Middle School. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Hike of more than 60% in water rates, 80% in sewer over next five years proposed by CBJ utilities

Increase needed due to rates not keeping up with inflation, officials say; Assembly will need to OK plan.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy and President-elect Donald Trump (left) will be working as chief executives at opposite ends of the U.S. next year, a face constructed of rocks on Sandy Beach is seen among snow in November (center), and KINY’s prize patrol van (right) flashes its colors outside the station this summer. (Photos, from left to right, from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office, Elliot Welch via Juneau Parks and Recreation, and Mark Sabbatini via the Juneau Empire)
Juneau’s 10 strangest news stories of 2024

Governor’s captivating journey to nowhere, woman who won’t leave the beach among those making waves.

Police calls for Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

The U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Funding for the federal government will lapse at 8:01 p.m. Alaska time on Friday if no deal is reached. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
A federal government shutdown may begin tonight. Here’s what may happen.

TSA will still screen holiday travelers, military will work without paychecks; food stamps may lapse.

The cover image from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s “Alaska Priorities For Federal Transition” report. (Office of the Governor)
Loch Ness ducks or ‘vampire grebes’? Alaska governor report for Trump comes with AI hallucinations

A ChatGPT-generated image of Alaska included some strange-looking waterfowl.

Bartlett Regional Hospital, along with Juneau’s police and fire departments, are partnering in a new behavioral health crisis response program announced Thursday. (Bartlett Regional Hospital photo)
New local behavioral health crisis program using hospital, fire and police officials debuts

Mobile crisis team of responders forms five months after hospital ends crisis stabilization program.

Most Read