Begich gets input from Valley on run

WASILLA — Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich plans to announce within the next week whether he will run for U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens’ seat.

“The response I’m getting is very positive and very mixed in the sense of who’s giving the response,” Begich said Friday during the Wasilla portion of a series of meetings he’s held from Sitka to Kotzebue to Kenai. He said he’s heard from Republicans and Democrats and folks in between, and that, so far, it’s been encouraging.

With that positive feedback, does that mean he’s leaning towards stepping into the ring with Stevens?

“I’d say that’s a fair statement, but it’s not complete yet,” Begich said.

Friday, Begich visited the Wasilla Senior Center, Cottonwood Creek Elementary and, as of the afternoon, planned trips to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, the Spring Home Show and Showcase of Homes and the Democrats’ Egan Day Dinner at the Grandview Inn.

Begich, 45, has formed an exploratory committee about running for a seat held by the longtime incumbent. He is a two-term mayor prevented by term limits from making a third run. His father, Nick Begich, was a storied Alaska politician who held the state’s sole U.S. House of Representatives seat before he died in a plane crash in 1972. Stevens, a Republican, has been a U.S. Senator since 1968 and has announced his intention to run for re-election.

“I respect the service that he’s done for the last 40 years,” Begich, a Democrat, said of Stevens. “It’s clear to me that people are now concerned about what’s going to happen in the next 10, 20 years.”

He said residents seem to want someone from a new generation to step up.

In his tours around the state, including in the Valley, Begich said the things folks seem most concerned about are energy and food costs.

“It’s not, ‘What are you going to bring back tomorrow?’ That’s important, but it’s, ‘What are you going to do for the next generation’?” Begich said.

Although he’s a Democrat, one of his top priorities if elected would be to open the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, Begich said.

“There’s a big difference between national Democrat and Alaskan Democrat,” he said, noting that, among other things, he disagrees with national Democrats on gun control.

ANWR will be a tough sell, especially given that all three major candidates for president oppose opening the refuge, he said. But the key to being successful with ANWR is creating a national energy policy, working with state legislators to build a state policy, making sure the two fit together and sure ANWR drilling fits into those policies.

Referencing recent political scandals that have rocked Alaska as state legislators have been investigated and convicted of corruption and rumors swirl about investigations of the state’s U.S. congressional delegation, Begich said it used to be that people from Outside saw Alaska as an exotic destination they couldn’t wait to visit. People would always ask him about his state and its natural wonders.

“Now it’s no longer that,” he said. “People want to talk to you about, ‘What they heck is going on in your state?’”

He cited recent press accounts of U.S. Rep. Don Young sparring with reporters as he refused to say why he’s spent more than $1 million on legal bills. Unlike Young, who was legally required to disclose how much he’s spent, Stevens has not offered a public tally of his legal expenses.

Given the caliber of the lawyer the senator has hired, Begich said, “Ted Stevens has probably spent the same amount of money.”

Begich said he’s hoping, if he runs for Senate, to bring an open brand of politics to Washington and will work to bridge the gap between parties.

He said senators often hold grudges against candidates who defeat their political allies. That’s not his style. When the election is over, Begich said that’s when it’s time to sit down and work with the new guys, be they Republicans or Democrats.

Building those relationships matter, Begich said, even more than the oft-promoted might of Ted Stevens, whose seniority in the Senate and the political clout it gives him has long been touted as a reason to re-elect him.

“Clout is no good if you don’t have relationships,” Begich said.

As to openness, he said he, if elected, intends to maintain the style of governance he’s established as mayor, wherein he calls radio shows personally and answers questions and blogs on local political Web sites. It gives people a chance to talk personally with him and more easily understand his views and decisions. Even when people disagree with him, Begich said they’ll at least respect him for listening.

“Even when I know I’ll get on the radio and they’ll kick my teeth in, that’s OK,” Begich said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiers-man.com or 352-2270.