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Have you decided who will get your vote for Alaska's lone U.S. House seat?

Join us as we discuss the major takeaways from our recent statewide debate between incumbent Democrat Mary Peltola and Republican challenger Nick Begich.

How did their positions on Alaska priorities contrast?

Reporters join us to clarify the main points right now on Alaska Insight.

Good evening.

Thanks for joining us.

As we explore and clarify what the top candidates for Alaska's U.S. House seat are saying about their positions and about each other.

With less than three weeks to go until election Day.

Before we get to that discussion, here are some of the top stories of the week from Alaska Public Media's collaborative statewide news network.

The state of Alaska is asking a court to dismiss a lawsuit by eight young Alaskans, arguing that efforts to build a North Slope natural gas pipeline violate the state constitution.

The attorney representing the eight Alaskans argued Tuesday that they're already suffering the effects of climate change, ranging from faltering salmon runs to flooded homes, and that an Alaska LNG project would exacerbate the harms of climate change.

The state argues that any impacts of the pipeline are currently speculative and that natural gas produced by the pipeline could replace other fuel sources.

The judge in this case has not set a timeline for a decision.

Nearly a thousand criminal cases in Anchorage, including charges for alleged domestic violence and drunk driving, have been dismissed in the past six months due to a shortage of city prosecutors.

That's according to an analysis by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica.

The analysis found that defense attorneys in Anchorage realized the city had very few prosecutors working this spring, and began declining plea deals and demanding a jury trial.

This led to the city moving to dismiss large numbers of cases due to systemic failure.

Anchorage officials say they're working to hire more prosecutors.

And on Tuesday, the state Department of Law announced that state prosecutors would step in to help.

Kodiak's largest seafood processing plant has a new owner.

Trident Seafoods announced Monday it had reached a deal with Pacific Seafood for the downtown facility.

The star of Kodiak plant is the last plant to sell after Trident announced a major restructuring plan in December.

The plan called for the sale of four plants in Alaska, totaling a third of the company's facilities in the state.

Trident noted the tough state of the seafood industry in its decision, according to the Monday release.

Pacific plans to retain all of the plant's employees, but the transaction has not been realized finalized, and there are few public details about the deal, which is expected to be completed in November.

You can find the full version of these and many more stories on our website.

Alaska public.org or download the Alaska Public Media app on your phone.

Now onto our discussion for this evening.

Breaking down the positions stated during the debate for Alaska's lone U.S. House seat between incumbent candidate Democrat Mary Peltola and Republican challenger Nick Begich.

We'll hear a few different clips from the debate this evening from both of the candidates.

We'll start with this answer from Nick Begich.

After he was asked whether Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election.

Look, I believe Joe Biden won the election because he's the president today.

But what we have to look at is all of the things that were required in order for him to do that.

We saw a great deal of censorship on Google in their search results on social media, suppressing free speech in our nation.

I mean, these are the things that happened behind the scenes in order for Joe Biden to do what he did.

We saw last minute changes under the guise of Covid emergency in how elections were administered in a number of swing states.

And so I think it's worth looking at that.

I think it's acceptable and reasonable for any American to question, hey, is this reasonable?

Is this what we expect in a free and fair election?

And I think the answer is a clear no.

And I hope we don't see those same tactics deployed here in the last few weeks of the campaign, because I think we need to make sure that our elections are open, they're free, they're fair, and that information is allowed to transmit between one person and another in our country.

Joining me tonight to review the positions of the top U.S. House candidates are Alaska Public Media's Washington, DC correspondent Liz Ruskin; and from General James Brooks is on with us.

James is a political reporter for the Alaska Beacon.

Welcome, both of you.

Thanks so much for being here.

Thank you.

So let's start with what we just saw and heard.

Begich.

His response to the question about Biden's presidency.

Liz, have you heard him asked this before and what did you make of his answer?

I'm not sure that I've heard him.

answer that one before, but I've definitely heard this one from other Republicans.

It's a variation, on the conspiracy theory that the election was stolen.

It's kind of a smarter person's version.

But what, Begich is alleging there is also a conspiracy theory.

You just look at the language he uses.

He said things happen behind the scenes under the guise.

He said they were tactics deployed.

it's a page from Trump's Donald Trump's playbook.

It keeps Begich from having to contradict the, conspiracy theory that the election was stolen.

He doesn't have to contradict that, but he can create just a little bit of distance between him and that, scenario and, you know, it it it's just a variation on it.

Instead of saying that the, results were skewed.

He's saying that the playing field wasn't leveled to begin with and that, Claiming suppression of conservative viewpoints and.

Oh, yeah, and that's another aspect of it.

yeah.

James, your thoughts on this?

I'm generally in line with Liz there.

We have seen similar language from Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, not as much questioning the result of the 2020 election, but questioning how we got to that result.

And I should say that other observers have questioned whether responses like these are designed to lay the groundwork for challenges to the 2024 presidential election results, as well.

So, James, staying with you, you covered three debates, all three that were held with the candidates in three consecutive days.

Fairbanks, Kodiak Anchorage was our ours was the last.

What was that like?

And did the candidates differ from one debate audience to the next, or were they saying primarily the same things?

Laurie, it was a pretty remarkable trip for me at least, and a great way to realize what the candidates are doing across the state.

We're expecting between 350,000 to 400,000 voters in this election.

And if the candidates don't talk to all of those voters, it's certainly not for lack of trying.

They're traveling from city to city, doing lots of quick trips like this.

And these three debates in three days were an example of that kind of travel.

In Kodiak, we saw a fairly technical two hour debate focused on fisheries in Anchorage.

It was very business focused from the Alaska and Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, a lot more of the managerial type folks, rather than regular workers, ordinary residents that we saw in Kodiak.

And then again, we saw the radio and TV debate that you hosted, and each of those debates had a different focus fisheries business, and then more of the social issue questions on radio and TV.

And those were questions that we haven't seen asked in other debates this year during the general election.

So each of those different debates offered a new glimpse.

All right.

Thank you.

Let's hear from Congresswoman Peltola after she was asked why she's a registered Democrat when she votes against her party and didn't openly endorse Harris for president.

Well, I think it's really important that Alaskans.

That Alaskans who represent all Alaska are not overly partizan.

I don't see the world through a partizan lens.

I see the world as an Alaskan, and I am constantly thinking about what is best for Alaska, what is best for the Alaskan people and that.

And if it's our economy, if it's regarding guns, I'm happy to vote against my party.

I think that, endorsing either of the presidential candidates is a, you know, I think a lot of people would say, why would you endorse if you plan on working with either of them, whoever is elected?

Why would you use your time focused on a race you don't really have any control over?

Dog mushers talk about running your own race.

I am running my own race, and I've got a full plate representing Alaska, which would be the 18th largest country in the world if we were our own country.

All right, Liz, we know that Congresswoman Peltola has voted against her party's position in the House.

She's struggled at times to explain why she doesn't endorse Kamala Harris.

Some of the reporting on this has agitated the campaign.

Tell us about how she's working to keep the support of Alaska Republicans and Democrats.

She's pivoting to the middle, and she's making a clear play to try to win over Trump voters.

This is not a surprise.

Donald Trump won Alaska in 2020 by a huge margin, over ten points.

And, you know, we see her trying to win over some of those voters.

we see that in her votes in the House, as you mentioned.

For instance, she's voted to condemn the, Biden-Harris administration and Harris in particular, for the situation at the border on a whole range of messaging votes.

She's opted for the Republican message.

Not that these things are going to, you know, create law or be binding, but she's staking a middle position on these messaging votes.

And, as far as why she's not endorsing Harris, she did struggle with that this summer.

And, she kind of she did say that she was open to voting for either candidate.

Then she said, no, she's not open to voting for Trump.

But I think here she, at this debate that she, came to a position that is, tactically more what she, I would think would want to say, which is that why should I endorse.

It's really, you know, not up to me.

And, you know, clearly it's not in her interest to sidle up to the Biden-Harris administration.

Well, do you think she's been able to sort of tightrope walk the middle, as Senator Murkowski has when it comes to being in one party, but often working with lawmakers from another party?

We know that some Republicans are steamed up at Senator Murkowski, just as some Democrats are at Congresswoman Tola.

This is really a key question.

I think, the pivot to the middle may be a really good game plan.

It may be smart politics.

it makes, political sense when you look at the numbers, the the left, in Alaska, Democrats, they don't have another viable option in this election.

There's one other Democrat on the ballot.

He's incarcerated in New York State.

I think that, most Democrats are, you know, are going to vote for her no matter how much she has moved to the middle.

But the question, I think, really is, can she pull this off?

can she moved to the middle while keeping it real, or does she lose some of the, authenticity vibe that voters liked so much in 2022?

All right, James, turning to you.

How do you see this?

It appears to be happening on both sides of the political aisle.

Some Republicans are trying to distance themselves from the inflammatory rhetoric and misinformation of some of their colleagues, especially in the House.

And there are Democratic candidates doing the same thing.

Do you think there could be a small but possibly growing shift toward the middle on both sides?

No, Laurie, I don't I don't think I've seen evidence of that nationally in Alaska.

I think what we're seeing is that if you're a Republican, you can win on Republican votes alone.

Most likely if you're a Democrat, you need to win Democratic votes.

And some Republican votes.

And so what I'm seeing in the House race, I think, was exemplified by an exchange during the Fairbanks debate.

Nick Begich was asked how he would reach out towards Kamala Harris if she won election, and he won election, and he didn't offer any examples and said, instead he said, I'm going to stand up to her.

I'm going to fight her.

I'm going to combat her in every way.

And so he is taking a very much a fighter's approach in the talk about the election.

Whereas Peltola has been more conciliatory, talking about communication, talking about reaching across the aisle.

And I think that's an artifact of Alaska's race.

The Anchorage Daily News reported that Peltola has a significant fundraising advantage over Begich, raising more than $3 million in August and September, compared to less than 780,000 for Begich.

How much does this matter, and what do you think the effect of the other two candidates on the ballot could mean for the two main contenders?

Liz, do you want to start us off?

I think money matters a little less than it used to.

it's not all about TV ads anymore.

There's.

It's, you know, not that expensive to get on social media.

So I'm not sure that money is everything the way it used to be.

Interesting.

James, your thoughts?

I think looking you have to look beyond just what the candidates have raised and also look at the third party money combined.

All of the groups involved in this election have or are going to spend $31 million, according to one ad tracking number that I've seen.

And that's the largest amount of any US House race in the country.

Your mailbox is going to be filled with mailers.

You're going to see TV and radio ads everywhere, internet ads everywhere you go.

And I think that how that plays out remains to be seen.

The divide on the third party spending is very close right now.

Earlier in the campaign, we saw a large tola third party advantage.

Now it's much closer.

For both of you.

Has Nick Begich answered why Alaskans should send him to Congress when he has no local or state governing experience?

Liz.

Well, I don't think that that is something that he actually has to answer.

I think, among Alaskans, definitely in conservative states, among conservatives, political experience is not seen as a plus.

It's kind of a negative.

I think if anything, he you know, one thing that voters might hold against him is that he sounds and, you know, looks smooth.

And, there's a real emphasis in politics to say, well, I'm not a professional politician, so I'm not sure that, he needs to answer.

He needs to answer that question.

James, any thoughts from you on that?

Lori, I think he's trying to make the case that he has business and financial experience that Poeltl doesn't have.

And I think that's shown up in the debates.

During the debate the candidates had an opportunity to ask each other questions.

Let's first hear Nick Begich.

His answer to Mary Tola.

The average salary for a person in Alaska is about $63,000 a year.

So it would take an average Alaskan about 32 years to earn $2 million.

Fair shake is a crypto PAC that spent $2 million supporting your campaign.

Can you explain to Alaskans what is cryptocurrency and how does it work?

I have to say, this question kind of surprised me.

It seemed to be trying to tie her to a big money donor, but asked if she could explain the technology of cryptocurrency.

What do you think he was angling for here?

Well, I don't think.

I mean, I think the set up to his question was really what he wanted to say.

He was sort of suggesting there's something wrong or out of balance about, cryptocurrency spending that much on her to support her.

And let me explain something that she did not accept any money from this PAC that, or at least not $2 million.

her campaign didn't accept, $2 million.

this, political action committee bought ads, independent ads that said good things about her.

she's not allowed to coordinate with this group.

It's part of that third money.

Third party money that, James was talking about.

she has no say over what these ads would do.

So I don't think that was really clear in his question.

He was sort of suggesting there was something wrong with, crypto spending, a crypto PAC spending $2 million to support her.

I just don't think she had any control over that.

And the question might have surprised her to James.

Has, Mr. Begich used this question in other debates?

Have you asked him about it, or what do you think he was trying to imply with kind of conflating.

Do you understand the technology with, wow, that's a lot of money.

One of the things that came up in the Fairbanks debate just hours before was when Begich asked her directly about accounting principles and, cash flow statements, technical questions that seem to be trying to point out her experience or lack thereof, in financial matters.

And that question on cryptocurrency seemed to be in that vein.

Begich trying to make the case that he's knowledgeable about these issues, and Pletola is not in both Fairbanks and on TV.

We did see her field those questions fairly smoothly, so I'm not sure that it did what Begich was hoping to do, but it seemed to me like there's a clear strategy there to try and or Begich make the case that he is more experienced on these matters.

And Mary Peltolas question to Nick was also a bit puzzling.

Let's hear it.

Nick Begich You are one of eight candidates, eight challengers that the Freedom Caucus has invested in.

Do you think that Alaskans want someone who will spend their time in DC, engaged in Twitter fights, voting out speaker after speaker list?

What did you make of this question?

It seemed like an opportunity for her to question his lack of experience as an elected official, but instead it focused on potential division.

Well, she's trying to tie him to the House Freedom Caucus.

that is, you know, kind of the obstructionist wing of the Republican Party that makes it hard for Republicans to govern when they have the majority.

they, just, do not want any compromise.

They, ousted, the previous speaker for, passing legislation with the help of Democrats.

That's a no no in their mind.

And for a minute there, when Republican Nancy Dahlstrom was still in the Alaska race, she had the endorsement of the speaker and he had the endorsement of the Freedom Caucus.

So it was sort of shaping up that she was kind of going to be the mainstream.

And he was going to be with this, other, faction.

He still has their endorsement.

but he also now has the speaker's endorsement and Donald Trump's endorsement.

So I think she was trying to tie him to this group that is, more right wing.

James, again, with your experience of all three debates, was this her question in the other debates?

What do you think she was trying to establish there?

She did ask a similar question in Fairbanks, and I think she's hitting on a key question of this election, which is whether or not if elected, Nick Begich will join the Freedom Caucus.

If he does, that's an additional vote for them in the House.

It makes it more difficult for the speaker to, pass legislation presuming another Republican majority in the House.

If he doesn't join, then, the Republican speakership, the mainline Republican group, is strengthened.

And, I've pressed him on that in Fairbanks.

He said he still doesn't know if he would join the Freedom Caucus, but he does oppose government shutdowns and obstructionist policies.

James, stay with you.

The negative ads that both campaigns and supportive PACs have run recently, one attacks Peltola for allegedly making decisions that hurt the permanent fund.

Break that down for us.

What is behind this accusation and is there any merit to it?

I'm particularly interested in that ad because it references one of my articles about the financial stress the Permanent Fund Corporation is under.

As the argument goes, Peltola voted against a bill that was intended to increase oil production.

With less oil production, there's less money going into the permanent fund and thus less money for dividends.

That's a bit of a stretch.

Most of the money coming out of the permanent fund is generated by investments, not oil revenue.

We don't know how much oil revenue would be generated under new legislation.

And any legislation that passes now would take years, if ever, to result in new oil revenue.

All right, Liz, negative ads for Nick Begich have focused on businesses that he has in other countries, saying he created jobs in India, not Alaska.

Is there any merit to this accusation?

Has he answered how many people he employs here as opposed to outside of the country?

Well, I don't think, he's ever, said there's anything wrong with creating jobs overseas.

his business was, his software development business was not focused on Alaska.

I think some of the ads suggest that he took, you know, jobs from Alaska and moved them to India.

I don't think those jobs were ever in Alaska.

so I don't think that that is, you know, I don't think he's ever suggested that he's employed a lot of people in Alaska directly, but, the campaign has pointed out that through his investments in Alaska that that has created jobs.

I find that really interesting because when he last ran, he was running as far as he could from his uncle, Mark Begich, former, U.S. senator, a Democrat.

Now they're saying, look, he is invested.

Nick is invested in Alaska with his uncle Mark in these Alaska businesses creating jobs here.

A few seconds to you, James, to follow up.

There.

Nothing.

All right.

Well, thank you both so much for being here.

This went by way too fast.

And, I appreciate your time.

Who takes Alaska's U.S. House seat is now in your hands.

Early voting starts on October 21st, and you have until October 26th to request an absentee by mail ballot.

And, of course, your local polling place will be open on Tuesday, November 5th.

However you decide to vote, make sure you do to ensure your voice is heard in the election.

It's our right and our responsibility to the future health of democracy.

That's it for this edition of Alaska Insight, visit our website.

Alaska public.org for breaking news and reports from our partner stations across the state.

While you're there, sign up for our free daily digest so you won't miss any of Alaska's top stories of the day.

Thanks for joining us this evening.

I'm Lori Townsend.

Good night.