Nick Begich | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromAlaska'sat-large district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Mary Peltola |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nicholas Joseph Begich III (1977-10-21)October 21, 1977 (age 48) Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives |
|
| Education | Baylor University (BBA) Indiana University, Bloomington (MBA) |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Nicholas Joseph Begich III[1] (/ˈbɛɡɪtʃ/BEH-ghitch; born October 21, 1977) is an American politician and businessman who has served as theU.S. representative forAlaska's at-large congressional district since 2025. A member of theRepublican Party, he had previously run for the seat in the2022 special andregular elections before his election in2024.
Begich was born on October 21, 1977, inAnchorage, Alaska, to Nicholas Joseph Begich Jr., an author and business owner, and Starr Lyn Weed (née Baker).[2][3][4][5][6][7] He is a member of the politicalBegich family who have been affiliated with theDemocratic Party, although he is aRepublican. He is the paternal grandson ofNick Begich Sr., who served as aU.S. Representative for Alaska from 1971 until his disappearance and presumed death in a plane crash in 1972.[3] Begich Sr. had three notable sons: Nick Begich Jr.,Mark Begich, andTom Begich.[3] Mark Begich served as aU.S. Senator from Alaska; Tom Begich served as the Minority Leader of theAlaska Senate.[3]
According to Begich, his mother's family was very Republican and his father is aLibertarian Party member.[8] Begich said he has been a registered Republican since age 21.[8]
Begich attended and graduated from The Master's Academy, a Florida high school, having moved to Florida with his maternal grandparents after his parents divorced.[8] He received aBachelor of Business Administration fromBaylor University, Texas.[9][10] Afterwards, he received aMaster of Business Administration fromIndiana University Bloomington.[8]
After graduating, he founded FarShore Partners, asoftware development company which is mostly based in India.[8] In 2016, it had 160 employees internationally.[8] Begich has been business partners with Rick Desai since 2009.[8] He was later joined by his other business partner, JC Garrett, in managing both FarShore Partners and Dashfire.[11] As of 2021, he served as the company's executive chairman.[3]
In 2016, he ran for Seat A in District 2 (Chugiak/Eagle River) of the Anchorage City Council against Republican incumbent Amy Demboski.[8][12][13] Begich lost, receiving 42 percent of the vote to Demboski's 58 percent.[12]
He has served as a board member ofAlaska Policy Forum, a conservativethink tank. He was the co-chair of theAlaska Republican Party's Finance Committee.[9] He served as a co-chair onDon Young's2020 re-election campaign for the U.S. House.[9]
In October 2021, he announced his campaign to run for theAlaska's at-large U.S. House seat against incumbent Republican Don Young, who held the seat since 1972.[3] Young died in March 2022 which led to aspecial election scheduled for August 16, 2022.[14] The election was a 3-way race of Begich, former RepublicanAlaska GovernorSarah Palin and Democratic formerstate RepresentativeMary Peltola.[15]
The election was the first to use Alaska's newranked-choice voting (RCV) method,approved by voters in 2020. The winners of thetop-four blanket primary advanced to theranked-choice runoff election, but only three candidates competed (asAl Gross withdrew and endorsed Peltola). Peltola was declared the winner on August 31 after all ballots were counted.[16][17][18] Peltola's victory was widely seen as an upset in atraditionally Republican state.[19]
The results were praised by manypundits and activists.[20] By contrast, some scholars criticized the instant-runoff procedure for itspathological behavior,[21][22] the result of acenter squeeze.[22][23][24] Although Peltola received a plurality of first choice votes and won in the final round, a majority of voters ranked her last or left her off their ballot entirely.[22] Begich was eliminated in the first round, despite beingpreferred by a majority to each one of his opponents, with 53 percent of voters ranking him above Peltola.[22][25][26] However, Palinspoiled the election by splitting the first-round vote, leading to Begich's elimination and costing Republicans the seat.[22][27]
The regular 2022 Alaska's at-large U.S. House election was held on November 8.[28] The four candidates were incumbent Peltola, Palin, Begich, andLibertarian Chris Bye.[29][30] Under the rules ofinstant-runoff, Bye and Begich were eliminated in the first and second rounds, after they received the fewest votes. These votes were then transferred to either Peltola or Palin, depending on who the voter ranked higher on their ballot. Peltola won with 55 percent of the vote, increasing her margin from the special election.[31]
Social choice theorists commenting on the race noted that unlike the previous special election, the general election involved fewelection pathologies. Peltola won the election as themajority-preferred (Condorcet) candidate, with ballots indicating support from a majority of voters.[32]
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The regular 2024 Alaska's at-large U.S. House election was held on November 5. The election coincided with the2024 U.S. presidential election, as well asother elections to the U.S. House,elections to theUnited States Senate, and various otherstate and local elections.
The primary election was held on August 20, 2024,[33] with candidatesMary Peltola, Nick Begich, and RepublicanNancy Dahlstrom emerging as the main candidates. After placing third, Dahlstrom withdrew from the race to avoid another result like2022 to ensure there was nocenter squeeze orspoiler effect, resulting in a traditionaltwo-party race with two clear frontrunners.[34][35][36] The four candidates were Begich, Peltola,Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe, and DemocratEric Hafner.[37]
On November 20, it was announced that Begich defeated Peltola.[38] In the first round, he achieved 48.42% of the vote against her 46.36%. After other candidates were eliminated, the final round resulted in Begich receiving 51.3% of the vote against Peltola's 48.7%, making him the winner.[37][39]
Begich was sworn into the U.S. House on January 3, 2025.[40] Later that month, the U.S. House passed two of Begich's bills. The bills, which restored land rights to Alaska Native village corporations and made it easier for disabled Alaska Natives to qualify for federal aid programs, passed nearly unanimously with bipartisan support. Begich became the first freshman member of the119th United States Congress to have a bill passed.[41]
In May 2025, Begich added a proposal to a budget reconciliation bill. The Alaska-specific revenue-generating provision would increase Alaska's share of federal oil leasing revenues from 50% to 90% starting in 2035.[42]
He lives inChugiak, Anchorage, Alaska. Begich and his wife, Dharna, have one son, Nicholas IV.[3][8][48] He is aProtestant.[49]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Amy Demboski (incumbent) | 4,414 | 57.72% | ||
| Republican | Nick Begich | 3,188 | 41.69% | ||
| Write-in | 45 | 0.59% | |||
| Total votes | 7,647 | 100.0% | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Sarah Palin | 43,601 | 27.01 | |
| Republican | Nick Begich | 30,861 | 19.12 | |
| Independent | Al Gross[a] | 20,392 | 12.63 | |
| Democratic | Mary Peltola | 16,265 | 10.08 | |
| Republican | Tara Sweeney | 9,560 | 5.92 | |
| Independent | Santa Claus | 7,625 | 4.72 | |
| Democratic | Christopher Constant | 6,224 | 3.86 | |
| Independent | Jeff Lowenfels | 5,994 | 3.71 | |
| Republican | John Coghill | 3,842 | 2.38 | |
| Republican | Josh Revak | 3,785 | 2.34 | |
| Independent | Andrew Halcro | 3,013 | 1.87 | |
| Democratic | Adam Wool | 2,730 | 1.69 | |
| Democratic | Emil Notti | 1,777 | 1.10 | |
| Libertarian | Chris Bye | 1,049 | 0.65 | |
| Democratic | Mike Milligan | 608 | 0.38 | |
| Independence | John Howe | 380 | 0.24 | |
| Independent | Laurel Foster | 338 | 0.21 | |
| Republican | Stephen Wright | 332 | 0.21 | |
| Republican | Jay Armstrong | 286 | 0.18 | |
| Libertarian | J. R. Myers | 285 | 0.18 | |
| Independent | Gregg Brelsford | 284 | 0.18 | |
| Democratic | Ernest Thomas | 199 | 0.12 | |
| Republican | Bob Lyons | 197 | 0.12 | |
| Republican | Otto Florschutz | 193 | 0.12 | |
| Republican | Maxwell Sumner | 133 | 0.08 | |
| Republican | Clayton Trotter | 121 | 0.07 | |
| Independent | Anne McCabe | 118 | 0.07 | |
| Republican | John Callahan | 114 | 0.07 | |
| Independent | Arlene Carle | 107 | 0.07 | |
| Independent | Tim Beck | 96 | 0.06 | |
| Independent | Sherry Mettler | 92 | 0.06 | |
| Republican | Tom Gibbons | 94 | 0.06 | |
| Independent | Lady Donna Dutchess | 87 | 0.05 | |
| American Independent | Robert Ornelas | 83 | 0.05 | |
| Independent | Ted Heintz | 70 | 0.04 | |
| Independent | Silvio Pellegrini | 70 | 0.04 | |
| Independent | Karyn Griffin | 67 | 0.04 | |
| Independent | David Hughes | 54 | 0.03 | |
| Independent | Don Knight | 46 | 0.03 | |
| Republican | Jo Woodward | 44 | 0.03 | |
| Independent | Jason Williams | 37 | 0.02 | |
| Independent | Robert Brown | 36 | 0.02 | |
| Independent | Dennis Aguayo | 31 | 0.02 | |
| Independent | William Hibler III | 25 | 0.02 | |
| Republican | Bradley Welter | 24 | 0.01 | |
| Independent | David Thistle | 23 | 0.01 | |
| Independent | Brian Beal | 19 | 0.01 | |
| Republican | Mikel Melander | 17 | 0.01 | |
| Total votes | 161,428 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | ||||
| Democratic | Mary Peltola | 74,817 | 39.66% | +15,467 | 91,266 | 51.48% | ||
| Republican | Sarah Palin | 58,339 | 30.92% | +27,053 | 86,026 | 48.52% | ||
| Republican | Nick Begich | 52,536 | 27.85% | -52,536 | Eliminated | |||
| Write-in | 2,974 | 1.58% | -2,974 | Eliminated | ||||
| Total votes | 188,666 | 100.00% | 177,423 | 94.04% | ||||
| Inactive ballots | 0 | 0.00% | +11,243 | 11,243 | 5.96% | |||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mary Peltola | 70,295 | 36.80 | |
| Republican | Sarah Palin | 57,693 | 30.20 | |
| Republican | Nick Begich | 50,021 | 26.19 | |
| Republican | Tara Sweeney(withdrew) | 7,195 | 3.77 | |
| Libertarian | Chris Bye[b] | 1,189 | 0.62 | |
| Libertarian | J. R. Myers | 531 | 0.28 | |
| Republican | Bob Lyons | 447 | 0.23 | |
| Republican | Jay Armstrong | 403 | 0.21 | |
| Republican | Brad Snowden | 355 | 0.19 | |
| Republican | Randy Purham | 311 | 0.16 | |
| Independent | Lady Donna Dutchess | 270 | 0.14 | |
| Independent | Sherry Strizak | 252 | 0.13 | |
| American Independent | Robert Ornelas | 248 | 0.13 | |
| Republican | Denise Williams | 242 | 0.13 | |
| Independent | Gregg Brelsford | 241 | 0.13 | |
| Independent | David Hughes | 238 | 0.12 | |
| Independent | Andrew Phelps | 222 | 0.12 | |
| Independent | Tremayne Wilson | 194 | 0.10 | |
| Independent | Sherry Mettler | 191 | 0.10 | |
| Independent | Silvio Pellegrini | 187 | 0.10 | |
| Independent | Ted Heintz | 173 | 0.09 | |
| Independent | Davis LeBlanc | 117 | 0.06 | |
| Total votes | 191,015 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | ||||
| Democratic | Mary Peltola (incumbent) | 128,329 | 48.68% | +1,038 | 129,433 | 49.20% | +7,460 | 136,893 | 54.94% | ||
| Republican | Sarah Palin | 67,732 | 25.74% | +1,064 | 69,242 | 26.32% | +43,013 | 112,255 | 45.06% | ||
| Republican | Nick Begich | 61,431 | 23.34% | +1,988 | 64,392 | 24.48% | -64,392 | Eliminated | |||
| Libertarian | Chris Bye | 4,560 | 1.73% | -4,560 | Eliminated | ||||||
| Write-in | 1,096 | 0.42% | -1,096 | Eliminated | |||||||
| Total votes | 263,148 | 100.00% | 263,067 | 100.00% | 249,148 | 100.00% | |||||
| Inactive ballots | 2,193 | 0.83% | +906 | 3,097 | 1.16% | +14,765 | 17,016 | 5.55% | |||
| Democratichold | |||||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mary Peltola (incumbent) | 55,166 | 50.9 | |
| Republican | Nick Begich III | 28,803 | 26.6 | |
| Republican | Nancy Dahlstrom(withdrew) | 21,574 | 19.9 | |
| Republican | Matthew Salisbury(withdrew) | 652 | 0.6 | |
| Independence | John Wayne Howe | 621 | 0.6 | |
| Democratic | Eric Hafner | 467 | 0.4 | |
| Republican | Gerald Heikes | 424 | 0.4 | |
| Independent | Lady Donna Dutchess | 195 | 0.2 | |
| Independent | David Ambrose | 154 | 0.1 | |
| No Labels | Richard Grayson | 143 | 0.1 | |
| Independent | Richard Mayers | 119 | 0.1 | |
| Independent | Samuel Claesson | 89 | 0.1 | |
| Total votes | 108,407 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | First choice | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | ||||
| Republican | Nick Begich III | 159,550 | 48.41% | 159,777 | 48.49% | +267 | 160,044 | 48.77% | +4,817 | 164,861 | 51.22% | ||
| Democratic | Mary Peltola (incumbent) | 152,828 | 46.37% | 152,948 | 46.42% | +1,313 | 154,261 | 47.01% | +2,724 | 156,985 | 48.78% | ||
| Independence | John Wayne Howe | 13,010 | 3.95% | 13,210 | 4.01% | +661 | 13,871 | 4.23% | -13,871 | Eliminated | |||
| Democratic | Eric Hafner | 3,417 | 1.04% | 3,558 | 1.08% | -3,558 | Eliminated | ||||||
| Write-in | 750 | 0.23% | Eliminated | ||||||||||
| Total votes | 329,555 | 329,493 | 328,176 | 321,846 | |||||||||
| Inactive ballots[c] | 6,360 | +1,317 | 7,677 | +6,330 | 14,007 | ||||||||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | |||||||||||||
Born in Anchorage and raised by his maternal grandparents...
Since Begich wins both … he is the Condorcet winner of the election … AK election also contains a Condorcet loser: Sarah Palin. … she is also a spoiler candidate
However, ranked-choice voting makes it more difficult to elect moderate candidates when the electorate is polarized. For example, in a three-person race, the moderate candidate may be preferred by a majority of voters to each of the more extreme candidates. However, voters with far-left and far-right views will rank the candidate in second place rather than in first place. Since ranked-choice voting counts only the number of first-choice votes (among the remaining candidates), the moderate candidate would be eliminated in the first round, leaving one of the extreme candidates to be declared the winner.
However, ranked-choice voting makes it more difficult to elect moderate candidates when the electorate is polarized. For example, in a three-person race, the moderate candidate may be preferred to each of the more extreme candidates by a majority of voters. However, voters with far-left and far-right views will rank the candidate in second place rather than in first place. Since ranked-choice voting counts only the number of first-choice votes (among the remaining candidates), the moderate candidate would be eliminated in the first round, leaving one of the extreme candidates to be declared the winner.
'If a candidate who advances out of the primary withdraws 64 or more days before the general election, the fifth place candidate will advance instead,' a Division of Elections spokeswoman said by email.
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| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromAlaska's at-large congressional district 2025–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 374th | Succeeded by |
Statewide political officials ofAlaska | ||
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| U.S. senators |  | |
| U.S. representative |
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| State government |
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| State Senate |
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| State House |
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| Supreme Court |
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| Non-voting delegates, elected at-large (1905–59) |  | |
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| U.S. representatives, elected at-large (1959–present) | ||