Dem Anchorage Mayor Plans Run Against Sen. Stevens (R-Crook)

[babylonsister]

Anchorage mayor expected to announce run against Ted Stevens


Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich is expected to announce this afternoon that he'll be running against Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), setting up a political battle between an iconic figure in Alaska politics against one of the rising Democratic stars statewide.

Begich has called a news conference for 2:30 p.m. EST to “announce his plans regarding the United States Senate seat held by Sen. Ted Stevens,” according to a campaign statement.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has been recruiting Begich for the last several months, believing he has the best chance of unseating Stevens. Begich’s father, who was a congressman, died in a 1972 plane crash while campaigning in Alaska.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, anticipating Begich’s campaign, has recently set up a website titled begichbaggage.com, designed to alert voters about Begich’s political record. It is still under construction.

A December Research 2000 poll, commissioned by the liberal website Daily Kos, showed Begich defeating Stevens, 47 percent to 41 percent, in a head-to-head contest.

more...

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0208/Anchorage_mayor_expected_to_announce_run_against_Ted_Stevens.html

[TheDebbieDee]

1. Kewl! This is great news.......

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[marmar]

2. Good....Someone needs to extricate that corrupt old nutjob from office.

n/t

[Irishonly]

3. Whoo Hoo

Stevens needs to go.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. We all have suspected this for some time.

I'm glad to see Mark's going to jump in. He's a smart man, and personable, too. I would love to see him in the Senate.

[L. Coyote]

5. Mark's brother reported the discussions were ongoing last Spring already.

Back in the day when Dem candidates were shot, a few plane crashes happened too, and their causes are not always known. Some influencial Dems perished this way, to be replaced by Rs like Don Young.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Begich

Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Begich, Sr. (April 6, 1932 – Undetermined; presumably October 16, 1972) was a Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives from Alaska. He disappeared after his plane crashed in 1972.

........ Begich was elected to the at-large seat for the state of Alaska. In 1972, he faced a tight race against the Republican candidate, state senator Don Young. On October 16, 1972, he was aboard a twin engine Cessna 310 along with Congressman Hale Boggs of Louisiana, the Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, when the plane disappeared during a flight from Anchorage to Juneau. The only others on board were Begich's aide, Russell Brown, and the pilot, Don Jonz;<2> The four were heading to a campaign fundraiser for Begich.

In the largest search ever mounted by the U.S. military, Coast Guard, Navy, and Air Force planes searched for the party. On November 24, 1972, after thirty-nine days, the search was abandoned. Neither the wreckage of the plane nor the pilot's and passengers' remains were ever found. The accident prompted Congress to pass a law mandating Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) in all U.S. civil aircraft. All were presumed dead on December 29, 1972, Begich was forty years old. The accident prompted Congress to pass a law mandating emergency locator transmitters (now called emergency position-indicating rescue beacons) in all U.S. civil aircraft. Posthumously, Begich won the 1972 election with 56% to Don Young's 44%. However, after Begich's declared death, a special election was called which was won by Young.

.............

[Winterblues]

6. Anchorage is by far the largest city in a Red State and yet they elected a Democrat

If Anchorage likes him the odds are that he will win the election. Alaska has a population of six hundred thousand people and Anchorage has a population of over five hundred thousand. I think there is a new day dawning in Alaska and it doesn't bode well for Republicans.

[Blue_In_AK]

7. Not quite that many people here in Anchorage,

I think closer to 280,000-300,000 or so in Anchorage, but you are correct that the majority of Alaskans live here and in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley to the north. Mark is well-liked here, and if the hordes that showed up for the Democratic caucus are any indication, I think the Dems may do quite well here this year.