Alaska’s two leading U.S. House candidates traveled more than 1,000 miles in three days to take the stage for three high-stakes debates on the state’s most pressing federal issues.
There was nothing out of the ordinary, they said.
“It’s been very busy in terms of media attention,” Republican candidate Nick Begich said after Thursday’s debate in Fairbanks. “But it’s no busier than a normal campaign day.”
Begich is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, and the two leading candidates have traveled from Anchorage to Kodiak, Fairbanks and back to Anchorage.
The Lower 48 is the distance between St. Louis and Boston.
In this election campaign, six forums and debates are scheduled where two leading candidates will appear on the same stage at the same time. Three of those were this week and two were on Thursday.
“Once the debate is over and the cameras are off, we’re going to go to Kenai the next day and Juneau the day after that. So we’re not stopping,” Begich said.
Peltola said promoting travel in Bush Alaska could be even more difficult than a busy debate week.
“I’ll be traveling to about nine places in 10 consecutive days,” she said.
On a recent campaign trip, she flew to Fairbanks, then went to Kotzebue, went to Nome, then returned to Fairbanks, then drove to Nenana, all within a few days. I did.
Is it mentally demanding or physically demanding?
“When you’re on a nine-day trip, moving every day and being ‘on’ all day for all kinds of events and weather, you’ll never get a private space, but it’s physical,” she says. I did.
“That’s the thing. I mean, a lot of my colleagues and women just say, ‘So, how much did you lose?’ How much did you lose?” ” (Because I can’t eat it) How many sizes did you go down? Besides a sudden divorce, I think exercise is the best way to lose weight. I’m just nervous and irritated. ”
Republican House candidate Nick Begich looks over his pre-debate notes in the choir room in Gerald C. Wilson Auditorium in Kodiak before the U.S. House of Representatives debate on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) Start with Kodiak
Both candidates arrived in Kodiak on Monday and spent part of that day and Tuesday morning meeting with supporters, visiting local businesses, fielding phone calls and campaigning.
A two-hour fisheries debate, twice the length of a typical election debate, was held Tuesday night, sponsored by the local chamber of commerce.
Also in attendance was John Wayne Howe of the Alaska Independence Party, who flew in from Fairbanks to participate. The fourth candidate on the ballot, Democrat Eric Hafner, is serving a 20-year sentence and did not participate in the debate.
Much of the event was spent on technical discussions about fisheries, but in the final quarter Begich expressed anger at Peltola over an ad claiming that if elected, Alaskans would not have fish to eat. did.
“It’s frustrating when people claim there’s no fish in Alaska because I won. That’s absolutely false. Everyone knows that, and she knows it.” he said.
Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) practices speaking from notes in her dressing room at Gerald C. Wilson Auditorium in Kodiak before a debate on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) To Fairbanks
Two days later, at a debate hosted by the Alaska Chamber of Commerce in Fairbanks, Mr. Peltola first launched a rhetorical attack, questioning Mr. Begich’s ties to the House’s hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus.
It was a turn from Kodiak that Peltola said he was here to talk about fish, not attack other candidates.
“The attack on me in Kodiak surprised me because the format we were presented with did not allow for that,” Peltola said. “In this meeting, they… At the beginning of the forum, we tried to start by asking each other three questions back and forth, but I saw his aggressive attitude and I said, “I have to prepare for the attack.” I realized that I can’t sit back and hold on to this. I have to punch it back.”
Immediately after the debate, both parties headed to the airport for a quick change of direction. They scheduled another debate just five hours later in Anchorage, 420 miles away.
This quick switch was a fortuitous result of scheduling. Begich announced his participation in the Fairbanks debate, and Peltola did the same in the televised debate.
Rather than reschedule, they made both happen. Both events were held as scheduled due to good weather and Alaska Airlines’ schedule.
At the Fairbanks Airport, Mr. Begich traveled with his campaign manager and was huddled at a table at an airport coffee stand when they were interrupted by an unexpected visitor — Mr. Begich’s neighbor from Eagle River.
He said this happens in Alaska, you run into people you know everywhere you go.
While Begic boarded the plane, Peltola and his entourage were stationed at opposite ends of the airport concourse.
Surrounded by empty chairs, she pored over her notes before taking her seat in the back cabin of an afternoon flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage.
Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich speaks with attendees at the Alaska Chamber of Commerce’s House Candidates Forum on Thursday, October 10, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) Arriving in Anchorage
On her way from the Anchorage airport to Alaska Public Media’s television studios, Peltola’s supporters waved signs and cheered as she passed.
The televised “Debate for the Nation” is the most-watched event of each campaign year, and Mr. Peltola and Mr. Begich are generally amicable as they take pointed questions from the debate moderators. answered.
It was the first debate of the general election to face questions about social issues.
Asked afterwards how they thought they would have done, both U.S. House candidates said it was difficult to say.
“You have to see it again to understand it. You can’t tell when you’re in the middle of it,” Begich said.
“I always feel like I dropped a bomb. I’m an apocalypse,” Peltola said. “I don’t have good judgment about how things turned out. I think about the few seconds of delay in response, but I forgot about these 20 things.”
Pertola and Begich each said the week of debates allowed voters to hear their differences and similarities.
“We’re trying to present a vision for the state. I think there are some similarities. I think we both want to see the state prosper and grow,” Begich said. said. “We have different ideas about how that could happen and different priorities about how to make it happen. But that’s what creates the political market. We have to decide which of these people best represents our state. That’s healthy.”
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