Trump endorses Begich in Alaska’s U.S. House race

Former President Donald Trump endorsed Nick Begich in Alaska’s congressional race on Tuesday, three months after he put out a statement accusing Begich of costing Republicans the seat in 2022.

Trump originally endorsed Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom in Alaska’s U.S. House race. Both Begich and Dahlstrom sought to challenge Democratic incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola.

Alaska’s U.S. House seat is seen as one of a handful that could be won by either party in November. The high-consequence race is set to draw significant spending as Republicans seek to hold onto and expand their razor-thin majority in the House.

National Republican leaders originally backed Dahlstrom. Political operatives aligned with the GOP reasoned that Dahlstrom was more likely to draw support from moderate voters turned off by Begich’s conservative policies. But leaders of the Alaska Republican Party continued to cheerlead Begich’s campaign.

In June, Trump called Dahlstrom “a proven fighter.” But when Dahlstrom received 20% of primary votes in August — coming in third behind Peltola and Begich in the nonpartisan election — she dropped out of the race.

Peltola led the 12-way primary election with nearly 51% of votes. Begich was second with 26%. After Dahlstrom and another Republican who finished fourth in the primary dropped out of the race, the fifth- and sixth-place finishers were elevated onto Alaska’s November ballot.

The fifth-place finisher is John Wayne Howe, chair of the Alaska Independence Party, which opposes statehood and most forms of taxation. The sixth-place finisher is Eric Hafner, a man serving a 20-year prison sentence for threatening elected officials in his home state of New Jersey. Hafner has never lived in Alaska.

Within hours of Dahlstrom’s August announcement that she would drop out, many of the national Republicans who had originally backed her — and spent money to support her candidacy — promptly announced they would support Begich instead. Trump, meanwhile, waited three weeks to endorse Begich.

In June, Trump wrote that Begich “has Democrat tendencies.” Begich belongs to a prominent family of Alaska Democrats. His grandfather Nick Begich I was elected in 1972 to Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat as a Democrat. His uncle Mark Begich served as a Democrat in the U.S. Senate. But Nick Begich III, who was raised by his maternal grandparents in Florida, is a conservative Republican who praised Trump and his policies even after the former president endorsed his opponent.

Trump also wrote in June that Begich “refused to get out of this race last time, which caused the Republicans to lose this important seat.” In 2022, Begich twice lost to Peltola in races that also featured Republican former Gov. Sarah Palin. Palin and Begich had repeatedly criticized each other and Alaska’s voting system, which includes nonpartisan primaries and ranked choice general elections. Many political observers subsequently pointed to their bickering as contributing to Peltola’s victories.

In a statement posted Tuesday on Truth Social, Trump wrote that Begich “won a primary against a Strong and Respected Candidate in Alaska,” referring to his result against Dahlstrom.

Peltola, the Democratic incumbent, led the nonpartisan primary by 24 points. Begich had bested Dahlstrom by 6 points.

Trump wrote that Begich is “outstanding” and that he will “work closely” with him “to enact MAGA policies.”

Begich was one seven Republican congressional candidates that Trump endorsed in quick succession on his social media platform Tuesday evening.

Following the endorsement, Begich wrote in a social media post that he was “honored” to get Trump’s endorsement and that “having a strong relationship” with Trump “will be critical” for reversing executive actions taken by the administration of President Joe Biden, referring to several environmental and regulatory review processes that have halted or slowed development projects in the state.

Begich also criticized Peltola for not picking a candidate to endorse in the presidential election. Peltola has declined to make an endorsement in the presidential race but has said she will not vote for Trump. Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Several Trump-endorsed candidates have lost major elections in Alaska in the last two years, since the state enacted ranked choice voting and nonpartisan primaries — a voting system said to favor moderate candidates over more partisan ones.

Ahead of the 2022 election, Trump held a rally in Anchorage to support the candidacies of Palin, who lost bids for Alaska’s U.S. House seat, and Kelly Tshibaka, a conservative Republican who ran unsuccessfully against moderate Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. During the rally, Trump also praised Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson, who went on to lose his reelection earlier this year.

Trump also offered Gov. Mike Dunleavy a conditional endorsement ahead of 2022 election, stipulating that Dunleavy not back Murkowski’s reelection bid. Dunleavy never spoke disparagingly of Murkowski’s candidacy in public, and he did not attend Trump’s 2022 rally in Anchorage. However, Dunleavy has continued to speak favorably of Trump since the governor won reelection in 2022.