Dan Sullivan defeats Begich in Alaska Senate race

By Rebecca Berg and Justin Green

Dan Sullivan defeats Begich in Alaska. (AP Photo)

Republicans picked up another Senate seat Wednesday.
Dan Sullivan led Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, by more than 8,000 votes with 100 percent reporting, according to Associated Press data.
The outcome obliterated any last hope among Democrats for a silver lining to Tuesday's Republican wave, and capped a banner Election Day for the GOP.
Begich, who is in his first term, stoked optimism that he could fend off a serious challenge in a strong year for Republicans by focusing his campaign on local issues and mounting an unprecedented registration and get-out-the-vote effort across Alaska.



On Election Day, Begich's field operation stretched to the farthest corners of Alaska, with many of his campaign's 16 field offices anchored in rural, hard-to-reach communities. Historically, Alaska Democrats have drawn support from the state's native communities, while Republicans have looked to cities such as Fairbanks and Anchorage for most support.

supporters following victory

But turnout was still not sufficient to boost Begich over Sullivan, a first-time candidate and former Alaska Department of Natural Resources commissioner.
Sullivan was buoyed by considerable Republican support in the final days of the election, with party heavyweights Mitt Romney and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joining Sullivan in Alaska to drum up support.
Like many Republican candidates this year, Sullivan attempted to link Begich to President Obama and his policies. In Alaska, Obama's approval is hovering around 30 percent — among the lowest mark of any Senate battleground state this year.
But Sullivan was also pressed to prove his own Alaska credentials, having been born in Ohio and lived in the Washington, D.C., metro area when he worked for the State Department under Condoleezza Rice. Begich, the son of a former member of Congress, was born in Alaska and has lived there his whole life.
Ultimately, the residency questions proved a low hurdle for Sullivan. A major legitimizing force on the campaign trail was his wife, Julie Fate Sullivan, an Alaska native who hails from a prominent Athabascan family and once worked for the late Sen. Ted Stevens. The two often appeared together at campaign events and referred to the campaign in the first-person plural.