[Updated Oct. 26] Another freshman, Senator Begich, won his seat in 2008 in unusual circumstances, amid veteran GOP Sen. Ted Stevens’s legal woes. So Begich may seem like an accidental senator. But he grew up in a political family and has shown shrewd instincts.
As a Democrat in a solid-red state, he plays to the home crowd, defending gun rights and energy interests and distancing himself from President Obama. But as with Landrieu, Begich isn’t helped by the delay on the Keystone pipeline.
Former Alaska Attorney General Dan Sullivan, backed by the GOP establishment, won the Republican nomination to take on Begich.
Cook calls the race a tossup. Sabato calls it lean Republican. Rothenberg calls it tossup/tilt Republican.
