The New Members of the Senate
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This article has been updated to reflect races that have been decided since the issue's press deadline.
Alaska
Mark Begich (D)
Age: 46
Occupation: Mayor
Home: Anchorage
The ethics section of Begich’s campaign Web site did not mention Sen. Ted Stevens (R) by name.
“Alaskans have been let down by their elected officials. Secret
meetings, hidden favors, special access for special interests, and now
convicted legislators have given Alaska a black eye,” the passage read. “The
only way to restore Alaskans trust in their elected leaders is for them to
earn it.”
It’s a theme Begich stuck to in the final days of his Senate campaign against Stevens, the longest-serving Republican Senator. After Stevens was convicted on federal corruption charges one week before Election Day, Begich emphasized the idea of moving forward.
“This election gives Alaskans the opportunity to choose a different style of leadership, a different approach to addressing the important issues facing our state,” Begich said.
But in the wake of Stevens’ conviction, it appeared that Alaskans might not give Begich the opportunity to do that. When the votes were counted on election night, Stevens was actually ahead. It took more than two weeks for the final ballots to be counted, and for Begich to be declared the victor.
The two candidates were very close in several polls leading up to Stevens’ conviction.
At the start of the election cycle, the idea that Democrats could oust Stevens seemed audacious. “Uncle Ted,” as he is fondly known throughout the state, is the most powerful man in Alaska and a reliable purveyor of pork.
Begich is in his second term as mayor of Anchorage. He spent 10 years in the state Assembly before defeating the incumbent mayor in 2003.
Begich’s father was former Rep. Nick Begich (D); he served as a Representative before his plane disappeared over the Gulf of Alaska in 1972, when his son was 10 years old.
The younger Begich has expressed interest in working on the Appropriations; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; Finance; and Small Business and Entrepreneurship committees. Begich is also interested in being on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, but since Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) serves there, “that would be more difficult,” a Begich campaign spokeswoman said in an e-mail.
Begich is critical of the No Child Left Behind Act and has been active on global warming issues as mayor, joining the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement and Resolution.
He has been married to his wife, Deborah, for 17 years. They have one son.
Colorado
Mark Udall (D)
Age: 58
Occupation: Congressman
Home: Eldorado Springs
Udall’s sweeping victory over former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R) continues a Democratic wave that has been pushing through the Rocky Mountain State since 2004.
Colorado narrowly voted for President Bush in 2004, but Democrats picked up an open Senate seat in 2004 with the victory of Sen. Ken Salazar. In 2006, the party won one House seat and the governor’s mansion. With the Democratic National Convention in Denver and presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) focused on its Electoral College votes this year, Colorado seemed prime for a Senate pickup.
Udall held a sizable lead in the polls against Bob Schaffer (R) for much of the summer, but an internal poll from the Schaffer campaign had the race down to a 1-point margin by early September. Outside groups from both sides flooded the airwaves with negative television ads, targeting Schaffer for accepting donations from oil and gas companies while in Congress and Udall for a 2003 vote against funding for construction projects in Iraq. Udall was painted as a “Boulder liberal” who supported partial-birth abortion and opposed oil drilling, prompting the Democrat to shift his stance, telling the Denver Post, “We’ve got to do everything” to encourage energy independence.
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