Mark Begich

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark Begich
United States Senator from Alaska
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2009 Serving with Lisa Murkowski
Preceded by	Ted Stevens
Mayor of Anchorage, Alaska
In office July 1, 2003 – January 3, 2009
Preceded by	George Wuerch
Succeeded by	Matt Claman
Member of the Anchorage Assembly
In office 1988 – 1998
Born	March 30, 1962 (1962-03-30) (age 47) Anchorage, Alaska
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Deborah Bonito
Relations	son of U.S. Representative Nick Begich (1932-1972)
Children	Jacob Begich
Residence	Anchorage, Alaska
Alma mater	Steller Secondary School
Occupation	financial executive
Religion	Roman Catholic

Mark P. Begich (pronounced /ˈbɛɡɪtʃ/; born March 30, 1962) is the junior United States Senator from Alaska and a member of the Democratic Party. A former mayor of Anchorage, he served on the Anchorage Assembly for ten years before being elected mayor in 2003. In the highly competitive 2008 Alaska Senate election, Begich defeated incumbent Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican member of the Senate at the time.

[edit] Personal life

Begich was born in Anchorage at the Old Providence Hospital, and is the first person born in Anchorage to be elected as the city's mayor. He is the son of U.S. Representative Nick Begich, who disappeared in a plane over Alaska with U.S. House Majority Leader Hale Boggs in 1972. The fourth child of six born to Nick and Pegge Begich; he has two sisters and three brothers. His Croatian paternal grandfather John Begich immigrated to the United States from Austria–Hungary in 1911.^[1] He attended Steller Secondary School in Anchorage. Begich has taken continuing education classes at University of Alaska Anchorage without graduating.^[2] Begich is the only U.S. Senator without a college degree. In 1990, he married Deborah Bonito, a former chair of the Alaska Democratic Party, and the current owner of several small businesses throughout Anchorage. The Begiches have a son, Jacob, who was born in July 2002.

[edit] Political career

Begich was elected to the Anchorage Assembly in 1988, at age 26, and served until 1998, including three years as chairman and two as vice chairman. In 1989, Begich led the opposition to the sale of the municipally-owned Anchorage Telephone Utility (ATU) to private interests. ATU was eventually sold in 1999 (after Begich had left the Assembly). Begich was also one of the chief sponsors of the introduction of photo radar.

He ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1994 against Rick Mystrom, and in 2000 against then-Assemblyman George Wuerch. In the 2003 mayoral race he narrowly defeated both Mystrom and Wuerch, earning only 11 votes over the number needed to win, due to a simultaneously approved law allowing a mayor to be elected without a majority vote. He was re-elected in April 2006, winning against local radio personality Jack Frost.

Though the office is officially non-partisan, Begich is the first Democrat to be elected Mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage since Tony Knowles, who was later elected to two terms as Governor of Alaska.

[edit] Alaska Senate Election, 2008

Begich as mayor of Anchorage.

On February 27, 2008, Begich announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to run for the United States Senate.^[3] After winning the Democratic nomination, he went on to face Republican incumbent Ted Stevens in the general election. The polls showed the race to be leaning for Begich due to Stevens's indictment and later felony convictions.^[4][5][6][7] On November 18, 2008, the Associated Press called the election for Begich,^[8] who was likely to win by more than the 0.5% margin needed to trigger an automatic recount, and was leading by more than the 0.5% threshold, with the remainder of uncounted ballots originating from the Anchorage area.^[9] The next day Senator Stevens conceded the race.^[10]

Begich's victory over Stevens in the 2008 Senate elections makes him the first Democrat to represent Alaska in either chamber of the United States Congress since Mike Gravel, who was defeated in the Democratic primary in 1980 and left the Senate in 1981 upon the expiration of his term. He is the first Croatian-American elected to the United States Senate. He is also the first Mayor of Anchorage to be elected to the Senate. Mark Begich's father, Nick Begich was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in the U.S. House of Representatives prior to his October 1972 disappearance and presumed death during a flight from Anchorage to Juneau with then House Majority Leader Hale Boggs.^[11]

After Stevens' conviction was thrown out due to serious prosecutorial misconduct, Alaska Republican Party chairman Randy Ruedrich called for Begich to resign so a special election could be held. Ruedrich argued that Begich's win wasn't legitimate because of "improper influence from the corrupt Department of Justice." Later that day, Governor Sarah Palin seconded Ruedrich's call, although later she denied having said he should resign.^[12] Begich said in a statement that he intends to serve his full six-year term.^[13]

[edit] Senate career

Begich's political views are considered to be fairly moderate. He is in favor of ANWR drilling and a supporter of gun rights. Some of his other positions, however, are more within the Democratic mainstream. He is pro-choice, supports benefits for same-sex couples (though it is unclear if he supports same-sex marriage), opposes the Patriot Act, and claims to "generally" oppose the death penalty while acknowledging to sometimes "evolve on that issue".^[14]

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Airland
  • Subcommittee on Personnel
  • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
• Committee on Commerce, Science, Transportation
  • Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
  • Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
  • Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion
  • Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard
  • Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs

[edit] Election history

[edit] Anchorage Assembly

Anchorage Assembly, Seat H 1995

• Mark Begich, 51%
• Steven Fowler, 41%
• Edward Robbins, 5%

[edit] Anchorage Mayor

Anchorage Mayor, 1994^[15]

• Rick Mystrom, 21.8%
• Mark Begich, 19.4%
• Craig Campbell, 17.4%
• three other candidates, 41.4%

Runoff^[16]

• Rick Mystrom, 58.0%
• Mark Begich, 42.0%

Anchorage Mayor, 2000

• Mark Begich, 40%
• George Wuerch, 20%
• Jack Frost, 18%
• Bob Bell, 10%
• Dave Donley, 4%
• Pete Kott, 4%
• Theresa Obermeyer, 2%
• 3 others, 2%

Runoff

• George Wuerch, 52%
• Mark Begich, 47%

Anchorage Mayor, 2003

• Mark Begich, 45%
• George Wuerch, 37%
• Rick Mystrom, 15%
• David Dunsmore, 1%
• 7 others, 2%

[edit] United States Senate

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mark Begich

• United States Senator Mark Begich official U.S. Senate website
• Mark Begich for U.S. Senate official campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Congressional profile at GovTrack.us
• Collected news stories from The Washington Post and on the web
• Mark Begich at the Open Directory Project

v • d • e United States Senators from Alaska Class 2: Bartlett • Stevens • Begich Class 3: Gruening • Gravel • F. Murkowski • L. Murkowski

v • d • e Democratic Party nominees for United States Senate from Alaska Class 2: • Bartlett • Kay • Guess • Hobbs • Havelock • Beasley • Obermeyer • Vondersaar • Begich Class 3: E. Gruening • Gravel • C. Gruening • Olds • Smith • Sonneman • Knowles