FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 09/17/2014
ANCHORAGE — Dan Sullivan, supported by his billionaire Outside backers the Koch brothers, continues to try and deceive Alaskans about Mark Begich’s voting record. Mark Begich stands by his record of fighting for Alaskans everyday in Washington, D.C. Begich and Alaska’s Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski vote together up to 80% of the time – voting together more than any Republican-Democrat delegation in the U.S. Senate.
“Senator Mark Begich votes for Alaska in the U.S. Senate. As an independent voice for Alaska, Mark Begich voted against a Democratic budget proposal proposing new taxes, supports opening ANWR, has defended oil and gas tax incentives from the Obama administration, opposed national gun control policies and supports auditing the Federal Reserve,” said Max Croes, Communications Director for Alaskans for Begich.
Independent fact check organization Politifact called Dan Sullivan’s use of the 97% claim “false.”
“Sullivan campaign email claimed Begich supports Obama’s economic policies 97 percent of the time…. Sullivan’s claim hinges on one statistic in a way that doesn’t accurately reflect Begich’s voting record on economic policy. We rated this claim mostly False.” [Politifact, 2/21/14]
Find the independent fact checks below:
PolitiFact Ruled Statement That Murkowski & Begich Vote Together As Much As 80 Percent “True.” “A Begich campaign radio ad said, ‘Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich vote as much as 80 percent of the time together.’ We found they had voted together 80 percent of the time. However, this statistic is based on the last six months, and Begich has served with Murkowski since 2009. The pair does, though, have a history of voting together more often than not — about 60 percent of all votes since 2009 — and the ad said ‘as much as 80 percent.’ We rate this claim Mostly True.” [PolitiFact, 7/14/14]
Politifact Rated Sullivan 97% Claim False. According to a February 2014 fact check by Politifact, “Sullivan’s campaign email claimed Begich supports Obama’s economic policies 97 percent of the time. . . . Sullivan’s claim hinges on one statistic in a way that doesn’t accurately reflect Begich’s voting record on economic policy. We rated this claim Mostly False.” [Politifact,2/21/14]
Politifact: “Begich Is Among The Most Independent Senators Currently Serving.”According to a February 2014 fact check by Politifact, “OpenCongress ranked Begich at 45th for 2013 when it comes to voting with his party. That shows that Begich is among the most independent senators currently serving.” [Politifact, 2/21/14]
