The Case Against Nick Begich and Nancy Dahlstrom

"Mary Peltola puts Alaskans first every single day, working with Republicans and Democrats alike to deliver for her constituents and protect their way of life. From leading critical efforts to create good-paying jobs, to cracking down on foreign and industrial trawlers, to fighting relentlessly to block the Kroger-Albertsons merger, Mary knows how to get things done for Alaska. Facing extremists who will attack Alaskans' rights and freedoms, threaten access to nutrition, and gut health care and hard-earned retirement benefits, Mary will be the clear choice in November," said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene.

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To: Interested Parties
From: Mallory Payne, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: August 20th, 2024
Subject: The Case Against Nick Begich and Nancy Dahlstrom

Mary Peltola is the only pro-fish, pro-family, pro-jobs, and pro-choice candidate in the race for Alaska's At-Large Congressional District. Since being elected to Congress in 2022, Mary has solely focused on doing what's right for Alaska, working with members of either party and overcoming partisan gridlock to bring home real results.

Mary fought against the Kroger-Albertsons merger, which could raise grocery prices on Alaska families, and she was even credited by the Federal Trade Commission in their decision to block the merger. Growing up along the Kuskokwim River and starting to fish commercially with her father at age six, Mary is a champion for Alaska's fishing families, working to reduce bycatch and crack down on industrial and foreign trawling.

Mary pushed President Biden to approve the Willow Project, one of the largest economic investments in Alaska in decades that's creating thousands of good-paying union jobs. Helping power Alaska's economy, Mary has supported billions of dollars in infrastructure investments that are expanding broadband access, strengthening the region's climate resiliency, and rebuilding crumbling roads, bridges, ports, and ferries.

A Yup'ik Alaska Native, Mary has worked tirelessly to protect Alaska's way of life. But her opponents - Nick Begich and Nancy Dahlstrom - would threaten it.

Nick Begich, who was raised in Florida, has built his career outsourcing jobs overseas, founding a technology company that hired most of its employees in India and Croatia and only had one Alaska-based employee : himself. Nancy Dahlstrom, meanwhile, is a career politician who has consistently done wrong by Alaska families.

They have proven they are completely wrong for Alaska and would champion an out-of-touch agenda in Congress, including restricting reproductive freedom, increasing food insecurity, and gutting health care and retirement benefits.

Begich and Dahlstrom Will Attack Reproductive Freedom

Nick Begich and Nancy Dahlstrom are all anti-choice extremists who believe politicians should make decisions about Alaska women's bodies. They will fall in line with DC politicians to ban abortion nationwide with no exceptions for rape, incest, or a woman's life.

Nick Begich is "pro-life" and supports allowing states to ban abortion. He celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it the "correct" decision. He even said he would vote against restoring the protections guaranteed by Roe v. Wade. Begich has pushed for restricting medication abortion and prohibiting federal, state and local funding for abortions. Begich even called for information on abortion medication "reversal" - which is not supported by science - to be given to anyone who receives the medication.

Deemed "a heroine of the anti-abortion crowd" and "an ardent abortion foe," Nancy Dahlstrom has a long record of attacking reproductive freedom. Dahlstrom introduced an anti-abortion bill in the state legislature that even her own party described as "one of the most egregious attempts…to violate a woman's constitutional right to privacy."

Now, Dahlstrom is backed by fellow anti-abortion extremists, and there is no doubt she will side with them over Alaskans. She's taken nearly $200,000 from politicians who have co-sponsored the Life At Conception Act, a total national abortion ban with no exceptions and that could also outlaw IVF nationwide. She was also "strongly" and "enthusiastically" supported by Alaska Right to Life, which supports the Life At Conception Act.

In contrast, Mary Peltola is standing up for reproductive rights, leading efforts to restore Roe v. Wade, keep the government out of women's health care decisions, and protect access to medication abortion.

Begich and Dahlstrom Are Threats To Food Security

As Lieutenant Governor, Nancy Dahlstrom repeatedly blocked access to critical nutrition services, increasing food insecurity across Alaska and threatening subsistence rights for rural residents.

The Dunleavy-Dahlstrom Administration cut more than 100 jobs from the department that processed SNAP applications, blocking more than 12,000 Alaskans from receiving nutrition assistance. They also sold off land used as a rural subsistence food source. When COVID-19 made it harder than ever for Alaskans to access groceries and led the Tlingit People of Kake to coordinate a special subsistence hunt, Dunleavy and Dahlstrom tried to sue them, claiming there was "no food security risk."

When the Kroger-Albertsons merger was announced, which would have driven up grocery prices for Alaskans, Dahlstrom and Begich remained silent while Mary Peltola led the charge to block the merger.

Nick Begich would also be a threat to Alaskans' access to nutrition; he condemned the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which has protected subsistence rights for rural residents for decades.

While Begich and Dahlstrom have consistently threatened and disparaged these critical services, Mary Peltola's first bill established an Office of Food Security in the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bipartisan bill - which Mary managed to get passed just two weeks after being sworn into office - was a massive step forward in better addressing food insecurity for veterans.

Begich and Dahlstrom Will Gut Health Care And Seniors' Benefits

Begich and Dahlstrom would also be a threat to Alaskans' access to affordable health care and seniors' retirement benefits.

Begich was the President of the Board of Directors for the Alaska Policy Forum, which claimed Medicaid expansion was "failing Alaskans" and called for rolling it back. And he will be a guaranteed vote to slash seniors' hard-earned benefits - he called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme."

Speaker Mike Johnson and other elite Washington politicians recruited Nancy Dahlstrom for this seat, knowing they could count on her to rubber stamp their plans to gut Social Security and Medicare - an agenda Johnson championed in DC for years.

Dahlstrom is already falling in line; she recently said cuts to Social Security and Medicare should "be on the table."

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Anchorage Daily News: Peltola continues to far outpace GOP challengers in fundraising ahead of Alaska's primary election [Anchorage Daily News, 8/13/24]

Axios: Peltola amasses $2.5M war chest to defend Alaska House seat [Axios, 4/2/24]

Alaska Public Media: Rep. Peltola joins Alaska senators to champion Willow project [Alaska Public Media, 9/21/22]

Homer News: Peltola celebrates federal intervention in Albertsons, Kroger merger in legislative address [Homer News, 2/28/24]

Frontiersman: Peltola signs onto Amicus to block Kroger-Albertsons merger [Frontiersman, 8.5.24]

Frontiersman: Peltola introduces pair of fish bills to restrict bottom trawling, reduce bycatch [Frontiersman, 5/22/24]

KYUK: Back in town for Cama-i, Rep. Mary Peltola is still thinking about fish [KYUK, 3/15/24]

POLITICO: Alaska's Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame. [POLITICO, 3/3/23]

PATH TO VICTORY

It's not everyday we see a Democrat win in Alaska, but Mary Peltola is no typical Democrat. Last cycle, she carried the state by almost 10 points after ranked choice voting allocation and came within 1.5 points of winning an outright majority on the first ballot. She did it by expanding support across every part of the state, but particularly in the Bush, where she put up unprecedented margins for a Democratic candidate in Alaska.

As one of the strongest fundraisers in the country, Mary will be able to overcome the challenge of meeting hard-to-reach voters where they are and will have the resources to communicate her message to the voters she needs to win. She is going into the general election with $2.8 million cash on hand, while Begich and Dahlstrom only have $172,000 and $317,000, respectively.

Since September 2022, she has shown the people of Alaska exactly why they elected her to carry on Don Young's legacy. She has accumulated more real wins in her first two years than many Members of Congress do in a decade, securing billions of dollars in investments for Alaska and successfully pushing President Biden to approve the Willow Project. And she's done it by working with the rest of the delegation and members of both parties.

In a few months, she will face candidates who are more focused on pushing their extreme agendas than delivering for Alaska. They are laser-focused on taking away Alaskans' hard-fought rights, freedoms, and benefits - from abortion to subsistence rights to health care. The people of Alaska know who Mary is and what she stands for, and that is why they will overwhelmingly vote to reelect her this November.

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