OPINION: With Dahlstrom out, Mary Peltola is the only pro-infrastructure candidate for US House

As a career construction worker, I was sad to see Nancy Dahlstrom drop out of the U.S. Congress race. Both Ms. Dahlstrom and Rep. Mary Peltola have a long record of supporting infrastructure investment. At this point, for those of us whose jobs depend on construction, oil, gas, and mining, there is only one pro-jobs candidate in the race, and that’s Mary Peltola.

Alaska has a long bipartisan tradition of dedicated support for infrastructure. Sen. Ted Stevens, Congressman Don Young, Sen. Dan Sullivan and Sen. Lisa Murkowski worked for decades to increase federal infrastructure investment in Alaska. The need is obvious. Alaska is on the front lines defending America against Chinese and Russian aggression, so our whole nation needs infrastructure investment in Alaska’s defense installations, from the Aleutians to Anchorage to the Interior. Defense installations cannot function without energy and materiel, so national security demands investment in ports, railroads, highways and airports.

Alaska is a key reason that America has grown to be an energy powerhouse and the world’s leading oil and gas producer. We can’t produce and get these resources to market without highways, railroads, ports, and harbors. Energy is essential for national security, and it has been a cornerstone of Alaska’s economy for generations.

With this history in mind, candidate Nick Begich’s opposition to infrastructure is bizarre and un-Alaskan. Nick Begich said he opposed the historic infrastructure bill that our senators wrote, and that Congressman Don Young played a key role in helping pass through the House. This was the largest infrastructure investment in 70 years. We are receiving more per-capita funding than any other state, which is a testament to the effectiveness of our current congressional delegation.

In addition to trashing a historic infrastructure bill written by Alaska Republican members of Congress, Nick Begich said that federal infrastructure investment is “wasteful spending.” Nick Begich should buy himself a map of Alaska and contemplate how on Earth we are going to develop our resources without roads, ports, railroads and airports to access our energy resources, ensure Alaskans have food security and support a growing economy.

Nick Begich’s anti-infrastructure talking points sound like they were written by a campaign flack from Washington, D.C. Maybe partisan campaign staffers 3,000 miles away don’t understand our economy or the realities of living in the most remote state in the United States. But anyone who’s ever set foot on a job site understands that Alaska needs infrastructure investment.

It’s a very busy construction season this year, largely thanks to the hard work of people like Don Young, Dan Sullivan, Lisa Murkowski and Mary Peltola. I encourage my friends and colleagues in the industry to carefully examine the record of our candidates for Congress. When it comes to infrastructure and energy, it isn’t even a close call: Mary Peltola is the only candidate who supports jobs and growth.

Pete Dahl is a 30-year construction laborer who lives with his family in South Anchorage.

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