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Anchorage pastor launches campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. Begich

Pastor Matthew Schultz of First Presbyterian Church in Anchorage. He collected protest signs after a No Kings rally in June 2025 and delivered them, minus the sticks, to the office of U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan. He's now running for U.S. House.
Liz Ruskin
/
Alaska Public Media
Rev. Matthew Schultz of First Presbyterian Church in Anchorage. He collected protest signs after a No Kings rally in June 2025 and delivered them to the office of U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan. He's now running for U.S. House.

Alaska Congressman Nick Begich has a new challenger.

Rev. Matthew Schultz of First Presbyterian Church in Anchorage launched his campaign Monday.

Schultz is well known in Anchorage progressive circles and on social media. He’s spoken at “No Kings” protests and champions affordable health care, social justice and LGBTQ rights.

He’s running as a Democrat but says he hopes to bridge the political divide by listening to other Alaskans.

“People have spent so much time treating politics as a war zone that we've forgotten that it's supposed to be a construction zone and we're supposed to gather together and build something better together,” he said.

Begich, in a speech to the Alaska Federation of Natives convention this weekend, focused on the economic benefits of the budget reconciliation bill Congress passed, particularly how it advances oil development in Alaska.

Schultz was among thousands of Alaskans who rallied against the bill this summer, citing the impact it would have on Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor.

Schultz plans to keep his full-time job at First Presbyterian as he campaigns.

He is a first-time candidate but said he has a lifetime of public service.

“We're simply doing good for the sake of doing good,” he said. “And I think that's a different lens to view our community service than our current representative has.”

Schultz enters the race with a big cash disadvantage. Begich has raised more than $2 million for his campaign so far this year.

Another Democrat, John Brendan Williams of Fairbanks, has also filed paperwork to run for U.S. House in the 2026 election. He hasn’t reported any fundraising so far.

Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org.