The Anchorage Daily News reported on April 23 that congressional candidate Nick Begich’s four Republican opponents ganged up on him at the state Republican Party convention last weekend. They criticized him for running while Don Young was still alive and for voting for two Democrats, his uncle and a candidate in an Anchorage nonpartisan election. This is small potatoes.
The Republican candidates, and Alaskans, should be more alarmed by Begich’s condemnation of Young for voting for the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill that is bringing billions of urgently needed dollars to Alaska. As a recent manager of the Bristol Bay Borough and the City of Dillingham (interim), I know firsthand the immeasurable value this money brings to Alaska for broadband, sewers, roads and ports. This includes helping the Port of Alaska, through which flows 90% of goods consumed by Alaskans. And it means jobs for thousands of Alaskans.
Young was one of only 13 House Republicans courageous and responsible enough to vote for the infrastructure bill. About 200 Republican members rejected these billions of dollars that will fix crumbling roads and bridges across America and create millions of new jobs for their constituents. They were willing to sell out their own citizens for the petty partisan purpose of denying the opposing party a win. Some even called Young a traitor for being disloyal to the national Republican party.
In denouncing Don Young, Nick Begich revealed that, for petty partisanship, he, too, would sell out Alaska, denying the state the resources critically needed to rebuild infrastructure. Who knows what additional Alaskan needs Begich would trade in the future for supposed party loyalty if he was elected? Alaskans do not need this dangerous political gamesman in Congress, someone subservient to the needs of the national Republican party. We need a U.S. representative who always puts Alaska and its people first.
— Gregg Brelsford
U.S. House candidate
Anchorage
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