FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – In recent days, Republican and Democratic candidates vying for Alaska’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives have been touring the state attending forums at various organizations.
Following this path, they recently arrived in Fairbanks, in front of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce.
At Thursday’s event at the Westmark Fairbanks Hotel and Conference Center, Nick Begich and incumbent Mary Peltola discussed what to do about Russian fishing boats contributing to Alaska’s bycatch problem. We talked about it.
Begich, a Republican, said the State Department needs to get involved and push back on Russia’s actions, while Peltola, a Democrat, cited efforts he and Sen. Sullivan have taken to keep Russian bycatch out of U.S. and Japanese markets. emphasized.
In response to rising geopolitical tensions in the Arctic region, both candidates advocated for an increase in the 49th state’s military resources.
After the event, Begich said of the forum: “It was a good debate and a good contrast between me and Mary Peltola. We need to be clear about who we want to root for. I think this forum was one of many in this campaign that provided that opportunity. We hope voters will take the time to review the candidates’ records and policies and decide which candidate is most representative. They are in Congress. I think it’s really important to remember that Alaska has that too. ”
Peltola said in her own reaction: “I think the event went very well. I think the questions were really relevant to Alaska and Alaskans, the business community and the community as a whole, and not just about Fairbanks and the Interior. In fact, this Chamber of Commerce meeting is statewide.”
“Governing is hard, passing legislation is hard. It’s hard to work with the administration on regulations, and it’s hard to look at candidates on the ground and see how they do it and how they move Alaska forward. “I think it’s really important to imagine how things can be improved,” she added.
Among the questions asked at the forum, candidates were keen to ask how they would work to build tourism infrastructure and attract tourists to Alaska.
As part of his response, Begich said he will continue to seek exemptions from the Passenger Vessel Services Act that were waived to allow cruise ships to enter Alaska ports during the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, Peltola voiced opposition to Juneau’s proposed “no boating on Saturday” rule, which unofficial results show Juneau residents voted down in this year’s local elections.
After the forum, each candidate was asked what role the interior plays in Alaska’s culture and economy, and how they are addressing the needs of the region. “Well, of course the Interior is a big part of Alaska, and Alaska was built largely on mining,” Peltola said, adding, “We can’t forget the Fairbanks area and the people of the Interior. There’s a lot of potential. There’s a lot of additional infrastructure that needs to be built. We have a huge military presence in the interior. We’ve been here for at least 12,000 years because of our connection to salmon and our connection to natural resources, and we work just as hard for Fairbanks and the interior as we do anywhere else.”
On the other hand, Begich replied: “The Interior is the gateway to Alaska, right? It’s the heart of our state, and it’s the starting point on the shipping road to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay. The Interior is healthy. It’s very important that we be able to maintain our population and our skilled workforce, and to do that we need to make sure that the cost of living is low in the interior, especially around Fairbanks and North Pole. There is a severe housing shortage in the region and we need to free up more land to address it. We need to ensure that energy costs come down.”
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