Popular Anchorage Mayor To Challenge GOP Senator

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich has decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Ted Stevens since 1968.

Begich, 46, has been mayor of Alaska's largest city since 2003.

A Democrat, Begich will formally announce his candidacy Monday at noon at the Mountain View Community Center. At 5 p.m., he'll make a similar announcement in Fairbanks at the J.P. Jones Community Development Center, according to a press release sent by his campaign. Begich has spent the last two months gauging statewide support. "That effort has led him ... to officially enter the race," the press release said.

Stevens, an 84-year-old and the longest-serving Republican in U.S. Senate history, was appointed to his Senate seat in 1968 and has easily won re-election seven times since.

But the upcoming election could be his toughest. Stevens is under federal investigation - but has not been charged - as part of a broad corruption inquiry by the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice. Investigators are looking at his connections with now-defunct oil services company Veco, including Veco's role in remodeling Stevens' home in Girdwood.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Mike169]

That combined with the story below about Don Young and Abramoff would lead one to believe that there's something rotten in the state of Alaska.

[MsLiz]

Look at the comments by Alaskans accompanying the article. Stevens still has a lot of support, which surprised me. It seems as if Alaska considers itself apart from the lower 48. Which I guess it is. Perhaps it is isolated in more ways than geographically.

[PackyJ]

I'm an Alaskan, and can tell you that the comments posted at ADN are about as true a test of the general feeling among Alaskans as the comments posted on the Huffpost are of the U.S.
About 1/3 of the people who post at ADN are whack-jobs, most of the rest are ignorant. Only a miniscule portion have a clue at all.
Ted Stevens is beatable. That being said, he will be a tough nut to crack.
Don Young is far more vulnerable.
I really wish Mark Begich had run against Young, there would be poetic justice in Mark reclaiming the seat that Don Young wound up with only because of the accidental death of Mark's father, Rep. Nick Begich.
I will be contributing to Mark's campaign.

[gevan]

Eighty-four ain't old. John McCaint won't be eighty-four until the end of his third term as President.

[TN]

Thank you Mr. Mayor, the day that crook leaves will be as good as the day Santorum, Allen, Burns, Foley, Delay, Frist he is one of them, isn't he the "bridge to nowhere" recepient. I believe it was him that would not swear in the Oil Executives when the dems got a basement meeting with Exon Mobile, BP and the like. Oh yea, would I love to see him go - bye bye crookie

[politisophical]

please get that guy out... i really dont care if they replace him with another republicans.. that man is too old to be in charge of committees that make complicated and important decisions.. i wouldnt want a man like him representing me while at the same time talking about tube and internets...lol