ALASKA IS
FLAGGING
ultimately delayed the establishment’s opening.
“That was the first time I had
ever seen something like that happen,” Begich said of his introduction to governance. “I got interested in being involved.”
Begich was well-positioned. In
the ever-changing landscape of
Alaska society — awash with oil
speculators, seasonal employees
and cultural refugees from the
lower 48 — the Begiches were
the closest thing to nobility that
Anchorage had.
“Everybody knew the Begich
family,” Popp said.
Begich’s mother, Pegge, ran the
family’s real estate company and
remained active in politics, serving
on a number of local boards and
task forces. She would later stage
two unsuccessful runs for her late
husband’s congressional seat. Begich is the fourth of six children,
and his oldest brother, Nick Jr.,
ultimately became president of the
Alaska Federation of Teachers.
“Mark was a networker. He never had a problem talking to anybody,” Popp said.
Begich brought the same hyperambitious approach to politics
that he had to business, and his
ascent was a speedy one. At 19, he
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landed a job in the city’s health
department and later became
the driver for Anchorage Mayor
Tony Knowles, who would go on
to serve two terms as governor.
In 1988, at 26, Begich won a spot
on the Anchorage Assembly and
was eventually elevated to the role
of Assembly chair. In 2003, after two unsuccessful attempts, he
was elected mayor of Anchorage,
the first Democrat to serve in that
role since Knowles.
All the while, Begich helped
expand and manage his family’s
real estate holdings, while starting a vending machine company
on the side.
“He has a different energy level
than normal people,” said Mike Abbott, chief operating officer of the
Anchorage school district and city
manager during Begich’s term as
mayor. “He just has a big motor.”
That motor will have Begich
and his team crisscrossing Alaska’s wild and wooly environs for
the next year. They’ll make their
case in lonesome villages on the
edge of the Arctic tundra and
huddled beside North Slope oil
workers in below-zero conditions.
They’ll travel on rickety fishing
boats in the Kenai Peninsula and
aboard turbulence-rattled prop
planes, many departing from Ted
Stevens International Airport, an
imposing 4,500-acre reminder of