An Alaska Republican posed with stars from the TV show “The Deadliest Catch” who are supporting him, according to a new ad out Tuesday, after taking the polling lead from his Democratic opponent.
GOP candidate Nick Begich rolled out the ad titled “Attack,” which features the Time Bandit boat made famous by the hit show.
“It’s hard to make ends meet when [President] Biden’s policies are sending prices soaring,” says Time Bandit deck hand and crabber Russell Newberry, a cast member on the show for more than 40 episodes.
“And the Democrats’ solution?” asks fellow crabber Dino. “Make it hard to fish, hunt and find good jobs.”
The pair also accuse the Biden of “attacking our livelihoods” and the other Alaskan workers on oil rigs after his administration banned drilling in nearly half of the state in April.
Both crabbers say they are ready to “move on” from freshman Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and back Begich, praising his “common-sense conservative” outlook.
The two are vying again for the at-large congressional district representing Alaska in the US House after Peltola beat Begich in an August 2022 special election.
A poll commissioned by the National Republican Congressional Committee and released last week shows Begich out in front of Peltola, 44% to 40%.
“When taking Alaska’s ranked-choice redistribution methods into account, Begich maintains his lead after every recalculation scenario,” the American Viewpoint memo, which was first reported by Politico. “If undecided voters are excluded, Begich would attain a majority on the first-choice ballot.”
The House race is also rated “toss-up” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Alaska allows voters to rank all candidates and proposals on a ballot in order of their preference.
The late Republican Rep. Don Young had represented the at-large district from 1972 until his death at age 88 in March 2022, making him the longest-serving GOP lawmaker in the history of the House of Representatives. Young died on a flight en route to Alaska.
Peltola suffered a similar tragedy in her first year in office, when her husband, Eugene Peltola Jr., 57, was killed in a plane crash while carrying more than 500 pounds of moose and antlers back from a remote hunting camp in Alaska.
She defeated both Begich and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the special election race two years ago that made her the first Democrat to represent the state in the US House in half a century.
