Begich was born on October 21, 1977, in Anchorage, Alaska, to Nicholas Joseph Begich Jr., an author and business owner, and Starr Lyn Weed (née Baker).[2][3][4][5][6][7] He is a member of the political Begich family who have been affiliated with the Democratic Party, although he is a Republican. He is the paternal grandson of Nick Begich Sr., who served as a U.S. Representative for Alaska from 1971 until his disappearance in a plane crash in 1972.[3] Begich Sr. had three notable sons: Nick Begich Jr., Mark Begich, and Tom Begich.[3] Mark Begich served as a U.S. Senator from Alaska; Tom Begich served as the Minority Leader of the Alaska Senate.[3]
According to Begich, his mother's family was very Republican and his father is a Libertarian Party member.[8] Begich said he has been a registered Republican since age 21.[8]
After graduating, he founded FarShore Partners, a software development company which is mostly based in India.[8] In 2016, it had 160 employees internationally.[8] Begich has been business partners with Rick Desai since 2009.[8] He was later joined by his other business partner, JC Garrett, in managing both FarShore Partners and Dashfire.[11] As of 2021, he served as the company's executive chairman.[3]
Political career
In 2016, he ran for Seat A in District 2 (Chugiak/Eagle River) of the Anchorage City Council against Republican incumbent Amy Demboski.[8][12][13] Begich lost, receiving 42 percent of the vote to Demboski's 58 percent.[12]
The results were praised by many pundits and activists.[20] By contrast, some scholars criticized the instant-runoff procedure for its pathological behavior,[21][22] the result of a center squeeze.[22][23][24] Although Peltola received a plurality of first choice votes and won in the final round, a majority of voters ranked her last or left her off their ballot entirely.[22] Begich was eliminated in the first round, despite being preferred by a majority to each one of his opponents, with 53 percent of voters ranking him above Peltola.[22][25][26] However, Palin spoiled the election by splitting the first-round vote, leading to Begich's elimination and costing Republicans the seat.[22][27]
The regular 2022 Alaska's at-large U.S. House election was held on November 8.[28] The four candidates were incumbent Peltola, Palin, Begich, and Libertarian Chris Bye.[29][30] Under the rules of instant-runoff, Bye and Begich were eliminated in the first and second rounds, after they received the fewest votes. These votes were then transferred to either Peltola or Palin, depending on who the voter ranked higher on their ballot. Peltola won with 55 percent of the vote, increasing her margin from the special election.[31]
The primary election was held on August 20, 2024,[33] with candidates Mary Peltola, Nick Begich, and Republican Nancy Dahlstrom emerging as the main candidates. After placing third, Dahlstrom withdrew from the race to avoid another result like 2022 to ensure there was no center squeeze or spoiler effect, resulting in a traditional two-party race with two clear frontrunners.[34][35][36] The four candidates were Begich, Peltola, Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe, and Democrat Eric Hafner.[37]
On November 20, it was announced that Begich defeated Peltola.[38] In the first round, he achieved 48.42% of the vote against her 46.36%. After other candidates were eliminated, the final round resulted in Begich receiving 51.3% of the vote against Peltola's 48.7%, making him the winner.[37][39]
^ abcdeGraham-Squire, Adam; McCune, David (September 11, 2022). "A Mathematical Analysis of the 2022 Alaska Special Election for US House". p. 2. arXiv:2209.04764v3 [econ.GN]. Since Begich wins both … he is the Condorcet winner of the election … AK election also contains a Condorcet loser: Sarah Palin. … she is also a spoiler candidate
^Clelland, Jeanne N. (February 28, 2023). "Ranked Choice Voting And the Center Squeeze in the Alaska 2022 Special Election: How Might Other Voting Methods Compare?". p. 6. arXiv:2303.00108v1 [cs.CY].
^Atkinson, Nathan; Ganz, Scott C. (October 30, 2022). "The flaw in ranked-choice voting: rewarding extremists". The Hill. Retrieved May 14, 2023. However, ranked-choice voting makes it more difficult to elect moderate candidates when the electorate is polarized. For example, in a three-person race, the moderate candidate may be preferred by a majority of voters to each of the more extreme candidates. However, voters with far-left and far-right views will rank the candidate in second place rather than in first place. Since ranked-choice voting counts only the number of first-choice votes (among the remaining candidates), the moderate candidate would be eliminated in the first round, leaving one of the extreme candidates to be declared the winner.
^Atkinson, Nathan; Ganz, Scott C. (October 30, 2022). "The flaw in ranked-choice voting: rewarding extremists". The Hill. Retrieved May 14, 2023. However, ranked-choice voting makes it more difficult to elect moderate candidates when the electorate is polarized. For example, in a three-person race, the moderate candidate may be preferred to each of the more extreme candidates by a majority of voters. However, voters with far-left and far-right views will rank the candidate in second place rather than in first place. Since ranked-choice voting counts only the number of first-choice votes (among the remaining candidates), the moderate candidate would be eliminated in the first round, leaving one of the extreme candidates to be declared the winner.
^Clelland, Jeanne N. (February 28, 2023). "Ranked Choice Voting And the Center Squeeze in the Alaska 2022 Special Election: How Might Other Voting Methods Compare?". p. 6. arXiv:2303.00108v1 [cs.CY].
^Ruskin, Liz (August 23, 2022). "Tara Sweeney ends campaign for U.S. House, opening spot for Libertarian on November ballot". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved September 6, 2022. 'If a candidate who advances out of the primary withdraws 64 or more days before the general election, the fifth place candidate will advance instead,' a Division of Elections spokeswoman said by email.
^Clelland, Jeanne N. (April 11, 2024). "Ranked Choice Voting And Condorcet Failure in the Alaska 2022 Special Election: How Might Other Voting Systems Compare?". arXiv:2303.00108 [cs.CY].
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