The field for November’s general election for Alaska’s lone US House seat is set: Incumbent Republican US Rep. Nick Begich will face off against Bill Hill, an Independent candidate, and two Democratic candidates who are running without party support.
Begich’s main challenger is Hill, a commercial fisherman backed by some progressives and Democrats, but the ticket will also include the two minor Democratic candidates, one of whom is an imprisoned felon who has never set foot in the state.
Alaska’s open primary system advanced the top four candidates to the general election: Begich, Hill and Democrats Eric Hafner and John B. Williams. Hafner has long rankled Alaska Democrats because he has no connection to the state, but has become a perennial candidate, as both he and his mother are under the impression that if he’s elected, he would have to be let out of federal prison, where he’s currently serving 20 years for threatening to kill judges, police officers, and others.
In the 2024 general election, Hafner got about 1% of the vote after his status on the ballot survived a legal challenge brought by Democrats, but 1% could be the difference maker this year in what could be a tight election.
As it stands, Hill has some ground to make up against Begich.
In the state’s Aug. 18 primary, Begich tallied about 46% of the vote while Hill finished with about 31%. Another 8% went to Democrat Matt Schultz, who dropped out of the race, citing a lack of support.
Hafner, who got a boost in the run-up to the primary election from a shadowy group of still-unknown supporters, finished this year’s primary with 3%. Democrat John B Williams, who lives in Alaska, finished in fifth place, but is set to advance to the primary after Schultz officially withdrew from the race.
Hill’s team nonetheless struck an optimistic tone heading out of the primary election, pointing to polling that showed Hill’s biggest problem is name recognition, and that once people get to know more about his background as a fisherman and eacher and his focus on working-class policies, voters are more likely to pick him over Begich.
“We’ve been hearing the same thing from Metlakatla to Utqiagvik: Alaskans are sick and tired of paying more for healthcare, gas, and groceries so that Nick Begich can give himself and his billionaire buddies another tax break. Begich and his rich friends think they can play by a different set of rules than we do,” Hill said following the primary election. “The Alaskans I know don’t think that’s right.”
Begich, a businessman and member of the traditionally Democratic Begich family, defeated ex-Rep. Mary Peltola in 2024.
In office, Begich has largely been a reliable vote for the Republican agenda, voting with President Donald Trump 100% of the time according to an analysis by VoteHub. That included voting for Republicans’ “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which extended tax cuts mostly for corporations and the very wealthy while making cuts to Medicaid and other social programs that will have an outsized impact on Alaskans.
Begich also supports Trump’s SAVE Act, a federal election bill that critics say would make it harder for people living in rural areas to vote in Alaska, and supports Trump’s war with Iran, which has contributed to gas prices hitting $20 or more per gallon in some communities.
The Hill campaign has criticized Begich and Republicans for focusing more on self-serving interests rather than reducing costs or improving access to healthcare. But as has been the case with now- US Senate candidate Mary Peltola keeping national Democrats at arm’s length, Hill has charted an Alaska-focused campaign.
And most notably, he’s been coy about whether he plans to caucus with Democrats or Republicans if elected.
“The caucus itself or the decision with whom you’re going to caucus or vote into leadership is really important leverage when you get to Congress,” he told KTUU after entering the race earlier this year. ““I will maintain that the people that I will be working with in Congress are the people who are going to be working to drive down the cost of health care … realize that public education is an important institution in our nation … want to drive down the costs of living in Alaska … [and] who are not going to vote for these haphazard tariffs or another war in the Middle East.”
When the KTUU reporter noted that it sounded a lot like Democrats’ plans if they retake the House, Hill said, “I guess we’ll find out when the election comes.”
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Bluesky.
