Campaigning in the valley

Sen. Mark Begich made a campaign swing through Mat-Su on Thursday, speaking to a group at the Palmer Senior Center about health care issues (pictured) and attending a rally in downtown Palmer. In case you’ve somehow managed to avoid the ubiquitous advertising, Begich is deep in the trenches of a tough re-election fight against Republican Dan Sullivan, a former Department of Natural Resources Commissioner and state Attorney General. Begich pulled no punches Thursday, hammering his opponent whenever he could. But the boxing gloves he received at the event — from Max Richtman, President of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, a group that endorsed Begich this week — weren’t for that but instead for standing up for those two programs.