Ted Stevens Alaska Legislature Dive
Begich, the 46-year-old, two-term Anchorage mayor, will take office in January after narrowly defeating 85-year-old Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the history of the Senate. Part of Stevens undoing in his bid for a seventh term was his conviction on federal felony charges last month.
With Republican Gov. Sarah Palin and 51-year-old Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Begich represents the face of a shifting political landscape in the nations northernmost state, and arguably its most misunderstood.
Begich says hes part of a generational break with Stevens and others in the states political old guard, a theme the 44-year-old Palin, the defeated Republican vice presidential candidate, has often used to define herself.
Begich says his concerns are in large part bipartisan, in contrast to the rigid orthodoxy often practiced in Washington. He warned that party leaders there shouldnt look for a rubber stamp from his office, even when trying to round up votes to break Republican filibusters on the Senate floor.
As a Democrat from a a state long regarded as a conservative GOP stronghold, Begich hopes to use his party-bridging style to political ends, such as winning over Congress on drilling in the refuge, an issue that has been stalled for years.
Asked about Palin, Begich singled out one of Palins signature issues: building a pipeline to tap the vast natural gas reserves on Alaskas North Slope.
“Right now, I think her issues are very similar to mine. We need to create jobs and opportunity for the state.”
Palin, who at one point called for Stevens to step aside, issued a brief statement a day after Begichs victory Tuesday declaring, “this is a new era for Alaska.”
Stevens has served for four decades in the Senate, earning a reputation for extracting billions of dollars in federal aid for his home state. He is of the same generation as former Gov. Frank Murkowski, 75, who was ousted by Palin.
Unlike Stevens famously cantankerous personality, Begich is known for being affable, approachable, polite.
To some, the changing of the political dynamics in Alaska was inevitable.
Part of the change in Alaska politics is not just new faces in office – it comes from its large transient population. Workers who come from elsewhere in search of jobs dont have much loyalty to long-serving politicians such as Stevens or Rep. Don Young, a Republican now headed for his 19th term after a tight race.
Stevens pursuit of a seventh term was damaged by his conviction in federal court – just days before the election – for lying on Senate disclosure forms to conceal more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from an oil field services company. Young also is being investigated for his connections to the same firm, VECO Corp. He says hes done nothing wrong.
Palins was elected after promising to take on Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips and BP, the multinational energy companies that long dominated the states biggest industry. Her proposals included a hefty tax hike on oil production and a natural gas pipeline plan that the companies fought.
“The Alaska legislature has been essentially subservient to the industry since 1977, when oil production began,” said University of Alaska Anchorage historian Steve Haycox.
“Thats changing. Alaskans have come to realize they can exert more leverage on the industry without harming the states economic profile.”
Source: nyoni
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