Anchorage mayor announces run against Ted Stevens

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich announced that he is forming a Senate exploratory committee in preparation for a campaign against Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), a race that would set up a political battle between an iconic figure in Alaska politics against one of the rising Democratic stars statewide.

"After months of hearing from Alaskans across our state urging me to run for the United States Senate, I have taken a significant step in that direction. I have formed the Mark Begich for Senate Exploratory Committee," Begich said in a statement.

“So many have urged me to run for the Senate that I believe I owe it to them and to all Alaskans to explore whether I can help move our entire state forward. Alaskans want bipartisan, practical problem-solving from their federal government and they’re not getting it now.”

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has been recruiting Begich for the last several months, believing he has the best chance of unseating Stevens. Begich’s father, who was a congressman, died in a 1972 plane crash while campaigning in Alaska.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, anticipating Begich’s campaign, has recently set up a website titled begichbaggage.com, designed to alert voters about Begich’s political record. It is still under construction.

A December Research 2000 poll, commissioned by the liberal website Daily Kos, showed Begich defeating Stevens, 47 percent to 41 percent, in a head-to-head contest.

Stevens, who has served in the Senate since 1968, filed for re-election last Thursday, but is fending off allegations of ethical misconduct that are threatening to derail his decades-long political career.

Last July, the FBI raided one of his homes as part of a wide-ranging corruption investigation into ties between Alaska politicians and the oil services giant VECO. The company allegedly provided labor for renovations to the senator’s home in Girdwood, Alaska — a charge that Stevens has refuted.

Stevens faces self-funding businessman David Cuddy in the Republican primary, which will be held August 26.

And Begich still has to win his party’s nomination, where he is set to face former state Rep. Ray Metcalfe.