Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich speaks to an audience at the Alaska Chamber of Commerce’s U.S. House debate on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Fairbanks. At left is incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska’s two leading U.S. House candidates are offering significantly different views on the role of federal spending, a cornerstone of Alaska’s economy.
Speaking to members of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce on Thursday in Fairbanks, incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola promoted her support of big federal infrastructure bills that have brought billions of dollars to Alaska.
Republican challenger Nick Begich criticized that legislation and voiced concerns about the size of the federal deficit, implying that if elected, he would seek to reduce federal spending.
That would be a significant change for Alaska: Federal money pays for almost half of Alaska’s state budget, and the federal government directly employs more than 16,000 people here.
Begich has received financial support from members of the Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline Republicans in the U.S. House who have occasionally driven the federal government to the brink of a shutdown as a negotiating technique in their pursuit of budget cuts. Members of the caucus succeeded in evicting the prior Republican Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, and have unsuccessfully tried to evict the current speaker.
“I want to know how it is that you are balancing the objectives of the Freedom Caucus with the stability and security that small businesses in Alaska and our whole economy depend on,” Peltola asked Begich.
Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich listens to Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, talk during the Alaska Chamber of Commerce’s House candidate forum on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
“If you want to talk about a threat to our way of life in this country, try excess government spending,” he replied.
“The inflation that we’ve experienced under the Joe Biden economy, a president that you have supported in his tenure, has been crippling for small businesses and for families, and it’s been caused strictly by a dramatic increase in the money supply. How did that happen? It happened because government was spending more money than it was taking in,” Begich responded.
Economists have noted that inflation occurred in countries around the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent global supply chain problems.
Later in the debate, Begich added, “I think it’s important for us to call time out once in a while and say, ‘Hey, does the spending that we’re incurring make sense? Should we put this on the national credit card? Should we make future generations pay for the decisions of today?’”
Begich said he doesn’t believe the government should shut down, and after the debate, said he isn’t sure whether he would join the Freedom Caucus, if elected.
“I’m not interested in being an obstructionist, and I think that that is some of the members of Congress’ apparent objective — is to just obstruct — and I don’t think that helps anyone,” he said.
Attendees of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce’s House candidate forum listen to Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, and Republican candidate Nick Begich on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Thursday’s debate in Fairbanks was the second of three this week between the two leading candidates for Alaska’s U.S. House seat and followed a two-hour fisheries debate in Kodiak on Tuesday.
John Wayne Howe, the Alaskan Independence Party candidate in Alaska’s top-four general election, was not invited to Thursday’s debate because he didn’t earn at least 5% of the vote in the August primary election.
The fourth candidate in the November election is Democratic candidate Eric Hafner, a non-Alaskan who is imprisoned in New York state for threatening public officials. As a result, he is unable to attend debates.
Alaska’s U.S. House election is one of a few tossup races in the 435-seat House of Representatives. With the House closely divided between Republicans and Democrats, the winner of Alaska’s race is seen as important to control of the House overall.
Under questioning, Peltola and Begich offered similar views on a variety of economic issues:
Both candidates support development of a trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.
Both candidates said they support an extension of Trump-era federal tax cuts. Peltola’s support was more qualified; she said she supports an existing bill that extends tax cuts affecting small businesses. That bill doesn’t include all of the tax cuts enacted under Trump.
Begich and Peltola each said they support stronger federal action against Russia, which has dumped fish onto global markets at low prices, squeezing Alaska fishermen.
Peltola and Begich each support military spending in Alaska, they said.
Both candidates said they support wider oil drilling in Alaska, on the North Slope and beyond, and Peltola criticized efforts to curtail drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve, west of Prudhoe Bay.
“It’s called the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska, for a reason. It’s not a protected area. … This has been set aside for times like this when we need as much energy as we can get and as affordably as we can get it, and get it in America where it’s done best,” she said.
Begich said he supports an expansion of oil drilling and has the support of national Republicans in that effort.
“My opponent has not gotten this commitment from her leadership; her ability to move these priorities forward is limited by the fact that she’s in the Democratic caucus supporting Hakeem Jeffries (the Democratic candidate for Speaker of the House). He has been opposed to development in Alaska. My team is for it, and they are already working together with me to ensure that it gets done,” Begich said.
Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, listens to Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich during the Alaska Chamber of Commerce’s House candidate forum on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Peltola said her support of the Willow oil project on the North Slope was crucial to President Joe Biden’s eventual decision to reverse a 2020 campaign promise and approve the project.
Begich said he’s skeptical of that claim because Biden said publicly that his legal advisers told him that he would face a losing lawsuit if he denied it.
Begich and Peltola differ on support for the proposed road that would connect the Dalton Highway to the Ambler mining district in Northwest Alaska. Begich said he supports it; Peltola raised issues with the project.
The two candidates also differ on Ballot Measure 1, a statewide initiative in November’s vote that would mandate paid sick leave, raise the minimum wage, and ban employers from requiring employees to attend religious or political lectures.
Begich said he doesn’t think Ballot Measure 1 is necessary because most wages in the state are already above what Ballot Measure 1 calls for.
“I think there are additional components … that are going to make it much harder, from a regulatory perspective, for businesses to remain in business, to stay profitable and to continue to employ their workforce,” he added.
Peltola disagreed.
“The policies that are at the core of this ballot measure are policies that I fundamentally support,” she said.
“I do believe in paid sick leave. I think making sure that we have paid sick leaves helps our workforce maintain stability and assurances that we’re keeping everyone healthy,” Peltola said.
Asked afterward about the debate, Begich and Peltola each appeared pleased with their respective performances.
“It was a good debate, a good contrast between myself and Mary Peltola,” Begich said. “We have differences, and those differences need to come out so that voters have an opportunity to make an informed decision about who they’d like to support.”
Begich noted that whoever is elected to the House from Alaska is going to be the state’s lone representative. They’ll have to stand alongside state delegations that might be 40 or 50 people strong.
“That means we need a loud voice, someone who can be tough, someone who’s not afraid to get in people’s faces and push Alaska’s priorities. I will do that for the people of Alaska,” he told reporters after the debate ended.
During the debate, Begich was asked how he would work across political lines if he and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris are both elected.
He didn’t offer an answer, instead suggesting that he would fight Harris’ policies.
“I think the best thing you can do in the House and the Senate is to stop her from seeing her vision implemented,” he said.
Peltola offered a different position in the debate’s closing comments, promoting the idea of cooperative work, across party lines.
“My role is a force of stability, a force of moderation, someone who can work across the aisle to get things done,” she said.
“I think one of the things that sets me apart is that I bring a bipartisan element to our delegation. I think that it’s important,” Peltola said. “I am very happy to explain to people in my (Democratic House) caucus why guns and ammunition are very important in Alaska, why we need to make sure that we maintain adequate access to the guns and ammunition that we rely on, and that hunting is an act of love. This is not something that you’re going to find any other member of Congress talking about, and that’s something that I uniquely can bring to Congress.”
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