Begich says he won’t run for Murkowski’s seat

Mark Begich
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska. (Public domain photo)

Former Sen. Mark Begich says he will not enter the U.S. Senate race this year in the contest for Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s seat.

“I will tell you it’s a tough decision. It’s been a tough decision, over this last week especially. I feel like it’s not the right time for me and my family,” he said.

Begich spoke to Rick Rydell on 650 KENI Thursday morning. He said supporters asked him to consider running a write-in campaign after Joe Miller unexpectedly joined the ballot this month in the Libertarian slot. Begich, though, did offer some observations on the race. He said it won’t be a replay of the 2010 Murkowski-Miller brawl.

“Joe has much more controlled presentation. He’s not like he was six years ago. I think that election gave him a lot to think about,” he said.

Begich said it’s Murkowski’s race to lose, but he’s predicting a low turnout, which he said would favor Miller. On the other hand, he said, voters might opt for one of the lesser known candidates in the race — independent Margaret Stock or Democrat Ray Metcalfe.

“I think here’s what may happen: People may, like in the Clinton-Trump race, say, ‘OK, I’m not sure I like either one. I’m going to vote for somebody different,’” he said.

Begich was noncommittal on whether he plans to run for governor in two years and he acknowledged there’s speculation he might become interior secretary if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency.

Alaska Public Media

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