Nicholas Joseph Begich III ( ; born October 21, 1977) is an American politician and businessman who has served as the U.S. representative for Alaska's at-large congressional district since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he had previously run for the seat in the 2022 special and regular elections before his election in 2024.
Early life and family
Begich was born on October 21, 1977, in Anchorage, Alaska, to Nicholas Joseph Begich Jr., an author and business owner, and Starr Lyn Weed (née Baker). He is a member of the political Begich family who have been affiliated with the Democratic Party, although he is a Republican. He is the paternal grandson of Nick Begich Sr., who served as a U.S. representative for Alaska from 1971 until his disappearance and presumed death in a plane crash in 1972. Begich Sr. had six children, including Nick Begich Jr., Mark Begich, and Tom Begich. Mark Begich served as a U.S. Senator from Alaska; Tom Begich served as the Minority Leader of the Alaska Senate.
Begich attended and graduated from The Master's Academy, a Florida high school, having moved to Florida with his maternal grandparents after his parents divorced. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University, Texas. Afterwards, he received a Master of Business Administration from Indiana University Bloomington.
Business career After graduating, he founded FarShore Partners, a software development company which is mostly based in India. In 2016, it had 160 employees internationally. Begich has been business partners with Rick Desai since 2009. He was later joined by his other business partner, J.C. Garrett, in managing both FarShore Partners and Dashfire. As of 2021, he served as the company's executive chairman.
Early political career In 2016, he ran for Seat A in District 2 (Chugiak/Eagle River) of the Anchorage City Council against Republican incumbent Amy Demboski. Begich lost, receiving 42 percent of the vote to Demboski's 58 percent.
He has served as a board member of Alaska Policy Forum, a conservative think tank. He was the co-chair of the Alaska Republican Party's Finance Committee. He served as a co-chair on Don Young's 2020 re-election campaign for the U.S. House.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2022 special election
In October 2021, he announced his campaign to run for the Alaska's at-large U.S. House seat against incumbent Republican Don Young, who held the seat since 1972. Young died in March 2022 which led to a special election scheduled for August 16, 2022. The election was a 3-way race of Begich, former Republican Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Democratic former state Representative Mary Peltola.
The election was the first to use Alaska's new ranked-choice voting (RCV) method, approved by voters in 2020. The winners of the top-four blanket primary advanced to the ranked-choice runoff election, but only three candidates competed (as Al Gross withdrew and endorsed Peltola). Peltola was declared the winner on August 31 after all ballots were counted. Peltola's victory was widely seen as an upset in a traditionally Republican state.
2022 regular election
The regular 2022 Alaska's at-large U.S. House election was held on November 8. The four candidates were incumbent Peltola, Palin, Begich, and Libertarian Chris Bye. Under the rules of instant-runoff, Bye and Begich were eliminated in the first and second rounds, after they received the fewest votes. These votes were then transferred to either Peltola or Palin, depending on who the voter ranked higher on their ballot. Peltola won with 55 percent of the vote, increasing her margin from the special election.
Social choice theorists commenting on the race noted that unlike the previous special election, the general election involved few election pathologies. Peltola won the election as the majority-preferred (Condorcet) candidate, with ballots indicating support from a majority of voters.
2024 regular election
The regular 2024 Alaska's at-large U.S. House election was held on November 5. The election coincided with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the U.S. House, elections to the United States Senate, and various other state and local elections.
The primary election was held on August 20, 2024, with candidates Mary Peltola, Nick Begich, and Republican Nancy Dahlstrom emerging as the main candidates. After placing third, Dahlstrom withdrew from the race to avoid another result like 2022 to ensure there was no center squeeze or spoiler effect, resulting in a traditional two-party race with two clear frontrunners. The four candidates were Begich, Peltola, Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe, and Democrat Eric Hafner.
On November 20, it was announced that Begich defeated Peltola. In the first round, he achieved 48.42% of the vote against her 46.36%. After other candidates were eliminated, the final round resulted in Begich receiving 51.3% of the vote against Peltola's 48.7%, making him the winner.
Tenure Begich was sworn into the U.S. House on January 3, 2025. Later that month, the U.S. House passed two of Begich's bills. The bills, which restored land rights to Alaska Native village corporations and made it easier for disabled Alaska Natives to qualify for federal aid programs, passed nearly unanimously with bipartisan support. Begich became the first freshman member of the 119th United States Congress to have a bill passed.
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law in July 2025, Begich achieved mandated oil and gas lease sales in the Coastal Plain area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and Cook-Inlet, while also increasing Alaska's share of federal oil leasing revenues from the OBBBA mandated leases in Alaska from 50% to 70% starting in 2035.
Begich was not a supporter of Thomas Massie's September 2025 discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was opposed by President Trump. Following the passage of the discharge petition on November 12, and Trump's reversal to supporting the bill on November 16, Begich joined the Republican caucus in the 427-1 vote passage of the bill on November 18.
On January 8, 2026, Begich was one of 196 Republicans in the U.S. House to vote against a three-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that had been in effect since 2021 and expired at the end of 2025.
Begich is a co-sponsor of the SAVE America Act, requiring voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote, as well as photo ID to cast a ballot. The bill passed in the U.S. House on February 11, 2026.
Begich has supported Trump in the 2026 Iran war. In March and June 2026, he voted against war powers resolutions that would have limited Trump's ability to wage war in Iran, until congressional consent had been obtained.
In May 2026, Begich introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026. The bill would consolidate custody and management of cryptocurrency held by the federal government, and create a strategic Bitcoin reserve within the U.S. Treasury Department.
Committee assignments
Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (Vice Chair) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials (Vice Chair) Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Energy Subcommittee on Environment Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight
Caucus memberships
Croatian Caucus DOGE Caucus AI Caucus Ferry Caucus Freedom Caucus Greenland Caucus Golden Dome Caucus Native American Caucus - Republican Vice Chair Pacific Islands Caucus Republican Study Committee Congressional Western Caucus - Executive Vice Chair Sharia Free America Caucus
Personal life He lives in Chugiak, Anchorage, Alaska. Begich and his wife, Dharna, have one son, Nicholas IV. He is a Protestant.
Electoral history
U.S. House elections
2022 Alaska's at-large congressional district special election Party Candidate Round 1 Round 2 Votes % Transfer Votes % Democratic 74,817 39.66% +15,467 91,266 51.48% Republican 58,339 30.92% +27,053 86,026 48.52% Republican 52,536 27.85% -52,536 Eliminated Write-in 2,974 1.58% -2,974 Eliminated Total votes 188,666 100.00% 177,423 94.04% Inactive ballots 0 0.00% +11,243 11,243 5.96% Democratic gain from Republican
2022 Alaska's at-large congressional district election Party Candidate Round 1Round 2 Round 3 Votes % TransferVotes %Transfer Votes % Democratic (incumbent) 128,329 48.68% +1,038129,43349.20% +7,460 136,893 54.94% Republican 67,732 25.74% +1,06469,24226.32% +43,013 112,255 45.06% Republican 61,431 23.34% +1,98864,39224.48% -64,392 Eliminated Libertarian 4,560 1.73% -4,560 Eliminated Write-in 1,096 0.42% -1,096 Eliminated Total votes 263,148 100.00% 263,067100.00% 249,148 100.00% Inactive ballots 2,193 0.83% +9063,0971.16% +14,765 17,016 5.55% Democratic hold
2024 Alaska's at-large congressional district election Party Candidate First choice Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Votes % Votes % Transfer Votes % Transfer Votes % Republican 159,550 48.41% 159,777 48.49% +267 160,044 48.77% +4,817 164,861 51.22% Democratic (incumbent) 152,828 46.37% 152,948 46.42% +1,313 154,261 47.01% +2,724 156,985 48.78% Independence 13,010 3.95% 13,210 4.01% +661 13,871 4.23% -13,871 Eliminated Democratic 3,417 1.04% 3,558 1.08% -3,558 Eliminated Write-in 750 0.23% Eliminated Total votes 329,555 329,493 328,176 321,846 Inactive ballots 6,360 +1,317 7,677 +6,330 14,007 Republican gain from Democratic
References
Notes
External links
Nick Begich for Alaska campaign website