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OPINION: Nick Begich III would lose Alaska’s US House seat for Republicans

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OPINION: Nick Begich III would lose Alaska’s US House seat for Republicans


By Jeff Benkert

Updated: 34 minutes ago Published: 34 minutes ago

The third time’s the charm. For Nick Begich III, that means he is on track to secure Alaska’s sole congressional for the Democrats for the third time in a row. It’s a record that would have former Rep. Don Young rolling over in his grave.

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There is one fundamental flaw with Begich’s insatiable desire to be a congressman – he doesn’t understand how Alaska elections work. In fact, his quest to find new ways to lose is becoming impressive.

Begich has shown a complete misunderstanding of how Alaska’s unique and challenging electoral system works. After finishing third (twice) with an opportunity to unite the Republican Party behind one candidate, he decided to remain in the race, despite a clear lack of enough support. Thus, he delivered the seat for Mary Peltola by slinging mud and never encouraging his voters to rank Sarah Palin second. He made it clear the only thing he cared about was himself, not the future at stake for Alaska.

This time, Begich has thought of an even worse idea. Instead of using ranked choice voting to Republicans’ advantage, he has declared that August will serve as a Republican primary and the loser will drop out. Such an idea might have been encouraged by Mary Peltola herself, as she sits on $2.5 million cash on hand. Instead of running a campaign under the current law, he has now manifested an idea that will drain all resources and, once again, encourage Republicans to attack each other.

Campaigns need money to raise money to draw contrast, especially against an incumbent Democrat congresswoman who raises millions of dollars each quarter. We can win under ranked choice voting, and we can use the top-four primary as a massive advantage to preserve resources. Or Republicans can drain their resources by attacking each other in order to win a primary that doesn’t even exist.

I know which one Mary Peltola would want.

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Put simply, Begich doesn’t understand how campaigns work. Look no further than his filing with the Federal Election Commission to confirm that he has no concept of preserving campaign resources. Begich’s campaign owes himself $425,000 in personal debt. Last quarter, he spent more than he brought in. Any money he raises goes straight out the door to campaign consultants and vendors. What’s worse, he has no backing from significant Outside spenders. Tough look when you are running as a “businessman.”

I recognize that Republicans are at a disadvantage under ranked choice voting, and I hope that we repeal that law in November. For now, Republicans have to work with the hand we were dealt, not subscribe to Begich’s flawed plan for Republicans to spend their money attacking each other, all while Peltola sits and laughs.

Begich is right about one thing — one candidate should drop out. It should be before the primary and it should be him.

Instead of becoming a three-time loser, he should graciously recognize that his campaign strategy does not work. It has not before. It will not now. Nancy Dahlstrom is the only candidate who can win.

Jeff Benkert is an Anchorage resident and business owner.

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The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.





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Alaska

Over half of Alaska students fall under proficient test scores

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Over half of Alaska students fall under proficient test scores


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Over half of Alaska’s students do not make the proficiency benchmark in English Language Arts and mathematics. That’s based on test results from the Alaska System of Academic Readiness (AK Star) for the 2023-24 school year.

“We’re underperforming because we’re not meeting the standards set out, you know, by the State of Alaska, which was designed for Alaskan educators,” Deena Bishop, with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, said.

During the last school year, around 68,000 students underperformed on the testing for both subjects. Similar numbers were also seen the year prior.

In the Anchorage School District, in both English Language Arts and Mathematics, only 35.5% of its students hit at least proficiency. Those low test scores ranged from 3rd grade to 9th grade.

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“The 3rd graders in this report, they were kindergartners who started on Zoom,” Kelly Lessens, on the Anchorage School Board, said during the Nov. 19, school board meeting. “If you talk to a 4th-grade teacher this year, they’ll say, a lot of those kiddos are still missing foundational content.”

COVID-19 is just one indicator people noted had an impact on youth education.

“Test scores have been coming down since COVID,” Corey Aist, the President of the Anchorage Education Association, said. “COVID set a very bad precedent for attendance and expectations. Not only expectations for our students and families but for our community.”

According to Bishop, COVID-19 created bad practices but she claims it shouldn’t be an excuse anymore.

“We need to focus on learning, focus on the children that we have, and move forward,” Bishop said. “We need to engage kids, have them come to school, provide high-quality education, support our teachers in doing so and changes will be made. Student learning will increase.”

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Bishop was unable to pinpoint a specific reason why test scores remain low across the state. Moving forward, she said investment in early education is the tactic they’re doing to increase student performance. Bishop noted that her department is not trying to raise test scores but to improve student learning. For that, she said, investment is key.

“You’ve seen investments made into public education coupled with strong policy,” Bishop said. “Let’s find a way to have courses, where kids are engaged…investing in career and technical, investing in reading.”

But for Aist, there is a list of things that he said have an impact on student test scores. Ranging from class sizes, staffing numbers, and an increase in students needing special accommodations.

“You can’t talk about test scores without first talking about the learning environments in which those test scores are taken. We have a staffing crisis,” Aist said. “We should do more research on what is actually happening there, to counter, to talk about, to speak to the test scores in better context.”

Aist says funding is needed to create a competitive atmosphere to keep staffing. It’s all a part of investing in education and the community.

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“Education is an investment in our communities, in our state, and in our future population, and without that, we continue to drop down below. And the funding that was proposed in the budget is completely inadequate to compete and retain our educators. They are going to continue to leave…its a spiral downhill. We need to do more,” Aist said.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com



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Alaska's three electors cast their votes for Donald Trump at Anchorage ceremony

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Alaska's three electors cast their votes for Donald Trump at Anchorage ceremony


Alaska’s three presidential electors — from left, Ron Johnson, Eileen Becker and Rick Whitbeck — sign certificates as they cast their votes for President-elect Donald Trump at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Division of Elections)

Alaska’s three presidential electors cast their votes for Donald Trump Tuesday at a ceremony in Anchorage.

The three electors, selected by the Alaska Republican Party, were Rick Whitbeck, Ron Johnson and Eileen Becker. Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees elections, introduced them during the brief gathering at the Dena’ina Center.

“Our three electoral votes are modest, but they symbolize the votes and the aspiration and the voice of all Alaskans, from the biggest communities to the smallest villages and most remote places that we have in Alaska,” she said. “These votes remind us that every state, every individual, has a stake in the direction of our nation.”

Though the electors typically cast their votes in Juneau, they met in Anchorage this year to make travel easier, according to the Division of Elections.

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The electors signed certificates that will be shipped to Washington, D.C. where they’ll be counted by the next Congress on Jan. 6. The count will be overseen by Trump’s opponent in the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Similar scenes took place across the country Tuesday as 535 other electors voted for their state’s chosen candidate. Trump defeated Harris with 312 electoral votes after winning all seven swing states in the Nov. 5 election.

Trump returns to office Jan. 20.



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3 Doors Down added to concert lineup for 2025 Alaska State Fair

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3 Doors Down added to concert lineup for 2025 Alaska State Fair


By Anchorage Daily News

Updated: 1 hour ago Published: 1 hour ago

Grammy-nominated 3 Doors Down will perform at the 2025 Alaska State Fair, the fair announced Tuesday.

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The Mississippi-rooted band that broke out with hits like “Kryptonite” is scheduled to perform Friday, Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. Tickets go on sale Wednesday at 10 a.m. at alaskastatefair.org and are $59 for lawn and $79 for reserved standing.

With its debut record “The BetterLife,” the band found mainstream success in 2000 and three years later earned a Grammy nomination in the Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal category with the song “When I’m Gone.”

3 Doors Down joins already announced acts Rainbow Kitten Surprise (Aug. 16,) “Weird Al” Yankovic (Aug. 17), Chris Tomlin (Aug. 18), Billy Currington (Aug. 23) and Foreigner (Aug. 30) on the 2025 fair lineup.





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