newsminer.com

The Associated Press

JUNEAU — Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich says he’s not a candidate for a Senate seat that has belonged to U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens since 1968 — not yet anyway.

But at times, Begich sure sounded like Stevens’ opponent during a visit to the state capital on Friday. By the end of April, Begich said, he’ll have an answer.

“Sometimes politicians stand up, look behind and no one’s behind them,” he said. “I want to make sure with what I’m saying and hearing, there are voters ready to move down that path.”

In February, Begich formed an exploratory committee to look into whether he should run for the Senate seat Stevens has held since 1968.

The deadline for filing is June 1. Forming the exploratory committee allows him to raise money and travel to ask Alaskans if they believe it is time for a change in leadership.

Since then, he has been on a statewide tour to meet with local leaders and attend fundraisers.

He visited Fairbanks on March 14. During the stop, he appeared on KFAR radio, visited the News-Miner, ate lunch with Interior Democrats, attended a St. Patrick’s Day party and met with officials at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Doyon Ltd. before going to a reception and fundraiser at the Well Street Art Co.

Friday’s stop in Juneau was to meet with union and Native leaders, get some air time on local radio and face time with business leaders.

It was at a union hall during a lunch-hour talk that he sounded more like a candidate than someone testing the waters.

Begich invoked his 5-year-old son, Jacob, when speaking of the significance of the race for Stevens’ seat.

“I want to make sure if Jacob wants to stay here and live here, that he gets the opportunities that I had, and more,” Begich said. “This election is potentially very historic.

“It will drive us to what we will be not only as a state, but how we fit with the rest of the nation. The issues of the country affect us more than ever before.”

He didn’t use the time to take shots at Stevens, who is under federal investigation. In fact, Begich avoided that topic.

Rather, he discussed and listened to concerns about the nation’s economy, the state’s exorbitant energy prices and the state’s political climate.

“I recognize there are some who are loyal to Ted and all the hard work he has done and say we ought to continue that,” Begich said. “Well, maybe. But the reality is we have to think about the next 20 or 30 years — how we are going to look at the national issues affecting this state.”

Stevens, 84, was appointed to the Senate in 1968. He won a special election two years later and has been re-elected six times.

His legacy may have been tarnished last year when the FBI and the IRS searched his home in Girdwood, a ski resort community on Anchorage’s southern edge.

Bill Allen, the former CEO of oil field services company VECO Corp., mentioned Stevens during testimony in the corruption trial of a former state lawmaker.

Allen said he oversaw the renovation and expansion of Stevens’ home and sent employees to work on it.

Stevens has declined to discuss the investigation, but has said he paid every bill presented him for the remodeling project.

Stevens filed for re-election in February. Calls to Stevens’ campaign office in Anchorage were not immediately returned.

Stevens is hardly alone. Several Alaska politicians have been targets of federal investigations the last two years, including his son, former Alaska Senate president Ben Stevens, as well as U.S. Rep. Don Young. Meanwhile, three state lawmakers have been convicted and one awaits trial.

This is a point Democrats have seized, and they did so again during Begich’s visit.

“There’s definitely a chill in the air, and it’s not coming from the Arctic Circle,” said Cindy Spanyers, who is also a superdelegate for the Alaska Democratic Party.

“It’s the activities of our lawmakers. It’s been more than an embarrassment. It’s damaged our reputation considerably.”

Since last fall, Begich has been courted by top Democratic leaders during several trips to Washington, D.C. Begich said Friday he would announce his decision by the end of April.

The 46-year-old is the son of Nick Begich, who was representing Alaska in the U.S. House when his plane disappeared over the Gulf of Alaska in October 1972.