Sen. Mark Begich
The newest senator from Alaska on why he didn’t go to college, running for office at a young age, and speaking on the fly.By Kay Steiger
February 4, 2009
Freshman Sen. Mark Begich of AlaskaMark Begich, the newly elected freshman senator from Alaska, defeated Republican Ted Stevens after Stevens was convicted on corruption charges late last year. The outcome of the election was determined by a recount and many absentee ballots. Begich is the son of Rep. Nick Begich, who died suddenly when his airplane presumably crashed after disappearing over Alaska in 1972. Begich is the only U.S. senator without a college education. He took over the family business when his father died, and attended a trade school instead. Begich was elected to the Alaska assembly at the age of 26 and was elected mayor of Anchorage in 2003.
Begich sat down with Campus Progress to talk about running for office, higher education, and his advice for young people today.
Campus Progress: What did you learn during your campaign? What’s something a young person might find really valuable if they were thinking about running for office?
Sen. Mark Begich: If folks are interested in running for office, they need to be very able to respond off-the-cuff and be very flexible in presentation. We did a lot of town hall meetings and they were great, but the questions you get are varied. You need to be ready and able to communicate with people comfortably. Of course, running statewide you get even more [varied questions]. As a mayor you are dealing mostly with local issues, but with a state campaign it is about the state, the world, everything you can imagine. And you really have to be comfortable enough with yourself to be able to answer questions in a forum, and be flexible enough to hear what people are saying.
CP: We saw a huge voter turnout among young people in November. How do you think young people can stay engaged and continue to pay attention to issues now that the election is over?
MB: In our campaign, we saw a huge amount of young people participating. That has been a normal course for all my campaigns. We are going to be having several interns working in our offices here and in Alaska; I think that is one way people can continue to be engaged. In their own communities there are a lot of local elections going on all the time. And it is a great opportunity for young people to be engaged in those local elections—you get an opportunity to do so much in the campaign. It is much greater than working on a national, senatorial campaign. It keeps you well in tune with the issues going on around your community.
CP: You are the only senator to not attend an institution of higher education in the traditional sense. What were you doing when you were 22? What advice would you give to people who are 22 now and may or may not be enrolled and are starting out in their careers?
MB: I was working at that point for a mayor here in Anchorage and I was also building my own businesses. At 22, I was engaged in helping campaigns. I’d volunteer to participate. I was also a volunteer on several non-profit boards. I thought I could offer some advice, and I got a chance to see how non-profits work, but also contribute my time. Which I thought was a very important thing to do.
Not long after that I ended up chairing the post-secondary education commission for the state of Alaska, as well as the student loan corporation, as well as sitting on the board of regents for the university. So it a very interesting experience that I’ve had.
In my family both [of] my parents were educators, my two sisters are educators, and my sister-in-law is an educator. It is very important to create opportunity and access for young people. People have certain experiences that will dictate where they may have to be in life. [I] took care of the family business and ensured that my mother and my five siblings had an opportunity to go on to higher education.
CP: What do you think are some ways we can make higher education more affordable—not just traditional four year programs, but trade schools and other means of secondary education? What are ways of making that affordable without taking out so many loans that you can barely pay them off?
MB: There are some proposals I’ve laid out. Tax-credits for higher education are one way we could do it. Another idea with regards to trade schools is partnering with unions in this country. There is a growing sector of union-run trade schools and they see a new role for themselves in creating education opportunities. I think there are some great ways to do this. Tax incentives for those jobs that we need young people to be in. We should think about loan forgiveness if they dedicate their time, or a portion of their time, to whatever the areas of gap might be.
CP: Any more advice for our readers?
MB: No matter what the obstacles are, don’t let them prevent you from pushing forward. I’ve had plenty of failures in life, but if I had just stopped at that moment I would not be here today. I think it is important that people really push forward and think about what they want to accomplish. Don’t have such a hardened view that you can’t move forward. In my years I’ve had to compromise a little bit, but I never gave up my personal views or my personal philosophy. Because of that, I have been able to do a lot of great things. Learn how to speak off the cuff, because you will be required to do that many times. If you can present your ideas in a very concise way, you will be successful.
Kay Steiger is an associate editor at Campus Progress.
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