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Mark Begich
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Mayor of Anchorage, Alaska
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| Assumed office July 1, 2003 |
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| Preceded by | George Wuerch |
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Member, Anchorage Assembly
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| In office 1988 – 1998 |
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| Born | 1962 Anchorage, Alaska |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Deborah Bonito |
| Relations | son of U.S. Representative Nick Begich (1932-1972) |
| Children | Jacob Begich |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Website | http://www.begich.com/ |
Mark P. Begich (born 1962) is an American Democratic Party politician and the current mayor of Anchorage, Alaska. He has appeared in national news media promoting economically efficient ways of reducing energy consumption to combat global warming.
On February 27, 2008 Begich held a press conference to announce that he was forming an exploratory committee to study the issue of running against incumbent U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), who is running for reelection.[1] On April 21, 2008, he officially announced his candidacy.[2]
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Political career
Begich was elected to the Anchorage Assembly in 1988, at age 26, and served until 1998, including three years as chairman and two as vice chairman. In 1989, Begich led the opposition to the sale of the municipally-owned Anchorage Telephone Utility (ATU) to private interests. ATU was eventually sold in 1999 (after Begich had left the Assembly) for $295 million, resulting in a substantial loss to the city. Begich was also one of the chief sponsors of the highly unpopular introduction of "photo radar," which was found to be insufficiently reliable to be used as evidence by a three-magistrate panel. Photo radar was discontinued shortly after the ruling.
He ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1994 against Rick Mystrom, and in 2000 against then-City Assemblyman George Wuerch. In the 2003 mayoral race he narrowly defeated both Mystrom and Wuerch, earning only 11 votes over the number needed to win, due to a simultaneously approved law allowing a mayor to be elected without a majority vote. He was re-elected in April 2006, winning against local radio personality Jack Frost.
Though the office is officially non-partisan, Begich is the first Democrat to be elected Mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage since Tony Knowles, who was later elected to two terms as Governor of Alaska
Personal life
Begich was born in Anchorage at the Old Providence Hospital, and is the first person born in Anchorage to be elected as the city's mayor. He is the son of U.S. Representative Nick Begich, who died in a plane crash with U.S. House Majority Leader Hale Boggs in 1972. The fourth child of six born to Nick and Pegge Begich, he has two sisters and three brothers. His paternal grandfather John Begich immigrated to the United States from Croatia in 1911.[3] He attended Steller Secondary School in Anchorage. In 1990, he married Deborah Bonito, a former chair of the Alaska Democratic Party and the current owner of several small businesses throughout Anchorage. A son, Jacob, was born in July 2002.
Election history
Anchorage Mayor, 1994[4]
- Rick Mystrom, 21.8%
- Mark Begich, 19.4%
- Craig Campbell, 17.4%
- three other candidates, 41.4%
- Runoff[5]
- Rick Mystrom, 58.0%
- Mark Begich, 42.0%
Anchorage Mayor, 2000
- George Wuerch, 52%
- Mark Begich, 47%
Anchorage Mayor, 2003
- Mark Begich, 45%
- George Wuerch, 37%
- Rick Mystrom, 15%
| Anchorage Mayor, 2006 Regular election, April 4, 2006 |
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| Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| ✓ | Mark Begich | 39,468 | 55.95% | |
| Jack Frost | 28,760 | 40.77% | ||
| Nick Moe | 1,747 | 2.48% | ||
| Thomas Mark Higgins | 431 | 0.61% | ||
| Write-in votes | 135 | 0.88% | ||
| Turnout | 70,541 | 35.18% | ||
See also
References
- ^ Begich takes step toward Senate campaign Sean Cockerham, Anchorage Daily News, February 27, 2008
- ^ "Mark's Announcement Speech" (April 21, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ Begich, Tom. (2006-04-30). "Tom Begich: Politics first - Part of growing up in a political family with a man who was a workaholic was I didn't know my father." Interviewed by Judy Ferguson. Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-04-04. Tom Begich, brother of Mark Begich, says of his father, "Until I was nearly 12, I grew up with a man who was a legend, the son of Croatian immigrants, but who disappeared Oct. 16, 1972, into the clouds."
- ^ Blumberg, Peter. (1994-04-21). "Campaign 94 mayor: Let's shake hands before round 2 - 37,850 votes up for grabs." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved at Newsbank.com (subscription required) on 2007-04-04.
- ^ Blumberg, Peter. (1994-05-18). "Mystrom new mayor." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved at Newsbank.com (subscription required) on 2007-04-04.
External links
- Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska - Office of the Mayor Mark Begich profile
- The United States Conference of Mayors - Mark Begich profile
- Mark Begich for U.S. Senate official campaign website of Mark Begich for Senate
- Mark Begich collected news stories from The Washington Post and on the web
| Preceded by George Wuerch |
Mayor of Anchorage 2003 – present |
Incumbent |
| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Begich, Mark |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Mayor of Anchorage, Alaska |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1962 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Anchorage, Alaska |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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