According to the Begich campaign, among Dan Sullivan’s greatest sins is that he isn’t from Alaska. Since when do you have to be born in Alaska to hold a public office?  How long did Hillary Clinton live in New York before her  election to the U.S. Senate for that state? But I digress.
I did some googling and here is what I learned;
1.  Only the two current U.S. senators in Alaska were born in Alaska: Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich. They happen to be children of former senators, both of whom were not born in Alaska. Frank Murkowski was born in Seattle and Nick Begich was born in Montana.
2. Former Alaska senators: Mike Gravel was born in Springfield, Mass,, and Ted Stevens was born in Indianapolis.
3.  Don Young was born in California.
4.  Bob Bartlett was born in Cleveland.
5.  Ernest Gruening was born in New York City.
How about Governors?
Bill Egan is the only governor born in Alaska (Valdez). Walter Hickel was born in Kansas; Tony Knowles in Tulsa; Bill Sheffield, Spokane; Sean Parnell, Hanford, Calif.; Sarah Palin, Sand Point, Idaho; and Jay Hammond, Troy, N.Y. (surprised me).
Furthermore, here are some more Alaska public servants and their birthplaces: Johnny Ellis, Missouri; Bill Wielechowski, New Jersey; Hollis French, Massachusetts; Berta Garner, Utah; Paul Seaton, Califonria; Les Gara, New York City; Chris Tuck, California; Max Gruenberg, California; David Guttenberg, New York City; Gary Stevens, Oregon; and Scott Kawasaki, Tokyo (wow).
I did not look up every single Alaska public servant past and present. But I can say with confidence that most of them were not born in Alaska, and therefore not “from” Alaska in the sense that Mark Begich is from Alaska.
Mark Begich and his people should give it a rest. How trivial can you get?
Barbara Landi