The Alaska Democrat who lost his U.S. Senate seat two years ago is not planning a return this year.
On Thursday, Mark Begich used a morning Anchorage talk-radio program to announce that he will not conduct a write-in campaign for Senate this fall.
“What the future holds is unknown, but at this point in time, I feel it’s not right for me,” he told KENI-AM 650’s Mark Rydell.
This fall, incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski is defending her seat from a constellation of challengers including independent Margaret Stock, Democratic candidate Ray Metcalfe and Joe Miller, who has been a shooting star over the past six years.
In 2010’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, Miller unexpectedly defeated Murkowski. The incumbent responded by launching the first successful write-in campaign for U.S. Senate since 1954. Miller ran for Senate again in 2014 but lost to Dan Sullivan in the Republican primary. Sullivan went on to defeat Begich in the general election.
This year, Miller is running as the Libertarian Party’s candidate, having announced his campaign on the last possible date.
When that happened, Alaska Democrats began calling Begich, urging him to run. Their thinking: Miller, running to the right of Murkowski, might siphon votes from the incumbent, opening the door for a candidate to the left.
“I have had — since Joe Miller got into the race — you can imagine the conversation,” Begich said.
Begich said he was “surprised and honored” by the calls and emails he received, but “I feel it’s not the right time for me and my family.”
“Sometimes politics is timing, but you’ve got to manage these things very carefully,” he said.
Rydell asked Begich if he would predict a victory for someone or endorse a candidate.
“I think it’s Lisa’s race to lose, to be frank,” he said.
Despite that, he said no one should underestimate Joe Miller, who appears to have learned a great deal since he was defeated by Murkowski in 2010.
“If you listen to Joe Miller, Joe has a much more controlled presentation. He’s not like he was six years ago. I think that election gave him a lot to think about,” Begich said. “Low turnout favors Miller, and I think it’s going to be low turnout … on the other hand, Lisa has a pretty broad base, and you have two other candidates.”
A popular belief among state politicos is that Begich will be among the challengers to Gov. Bill Walker when he comes up for re-election in 2018, and Rydell asked Begich directly about that.
“We’ll let the cards play out,” Begich said in response.
He also referenced an editorial published by the Empire urging his selection as Secretary of the Interior if Hillary Clinton is elected president.
“Speculating on me is more speculating than speculating on the stock market,” Begich said about the editorial.
While Begich made no firm commitments, Rydell believes a run for governor is in his future.
“I imagine Walker’s people are pulling their hair out right now, because that’s what this implies,” he said after Begich hung up the phone.
