Nick Begich III is looking for a place in the House

Alaska businessman Nick Begich III is making his second bid for the only Alaska House of Representatives seat. A staunch Republican, Begich comes from a family of politicians in Alaska, 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 death in a plane crash in October 1972. Mark Begich was a one-term U.S. Senator and mayor of Anchorage before that. Tom Begich served as a state senator from 2017 to 2023.

Begich has consistently called for curbs on federal spending, citing the rampant inflation that has plagued the American economy and driven up prices. Inflation has risen worldwide as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and supply chain issues.

“The inflation we experienced under the economy of Joe Biden, a president you supported in his tenure, was crippling to small businesses and families and was caused strictly by a dramatic increase in the money supply” , Begich. he said during an Oct. 11 candidate forum in Fairbanks.

Begich stressed that the federal government should think rationally about increased spending and how it would impact future generations.

He supports extending the Trump-era federal tax cuts implemented under the Tax Cut Act of 2017 and stronger federal sanctions against Russia.

He strongly supports resource development in Alaska, including the planned Alaska LNG Pipeline, opening the North Slope to more oil development, and the construction of Ambler Road, a 211-mile private haul road from Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District.

“At the end of the day, we are a resource state, whether it is oil and gas, minerals, timber, fisheries, tourism; those are all the resources we have and we have to be 100 percent all-in on those resources,” during a forum sponsored by the Alaska Chamber in Anchorage on Oct. 22.

Ambler Road, he said, was constitutionally promised as part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1970. However, the Biden administration effectively killed the project this year when it denied a permit of road on federally owned lands in a final environmental decision.

“The State of Alaska selected these lands, and a fundamental principle of real estate law is that you cannot have failed land. You must be able to access them. That’s why it was a provision in ANILCA.”

He told reporters after the Fairbanks forum that tribal concerns about the road’s impact are secondary to access to critical minerals. But there is room for maneuver.

“We cannot sacrifice our environment for resource development,” Begich said. “We need to have strong standards for resource development. I think those standards are in place.”

During Kodiak’s fishing debate, he called fishing an essential part of the state’s economy and way of life.

“Fish is not a Democratic or Republican issue,” Begich said. “This is one of the few issues, I would say right now, that we should be able to work on in a bipartisan way.”

On social issues like abortion, Begich said he supports local control over national bans.

“I believe in local control, and this is something we decide locally. And no, I would not support a ban or a bond,” he said during an Oct. 10 forum hosted by Alaska Public Media and KTUU-TV in Anchorage.

Begich said straight up that he would vote for Donald J. Trump for president. The former Republican president and Republican candidate endorsed Begich for Alaska’s US House in September after Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom dropped out of 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 election. The former president has continually falsely claimed to have won the 2020 election.

“He was elected president,” Begich said. “The techniques that were used to pick him, I don’t think are legitimate.”

Begich said he opposes Alaska’s current ranked-choice voting system and supports efforts to repeal it.

“I think we need to make sure that the system we have in place 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 nor Rep. Mary Peltola responded to the News-Miner’s candidate questionnaires.