In an interview with Politico published Friday, Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell (R) suggested that Sen. Mark Begich’s (D-AK) was elected as the result of a “bloodless coup.”
Begich defeated the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) in 2008 at a time when the high-ranking Republican was facing a federal indictment. Stevens was ultimately convicted of making false statements to investigators, but that conviction was subsequently overturned after the 2008 election because of prosecutorial conduct. Treadwell, who is considering a challenge to Begich next year, said the election was an injustice.
“It was astounding that you could have this process happen, that would take the third-most powerful guy in the government out of the government, unjustly, and then just say ‘oh, never mind,’ ” Treadwell said. “It was a bloodless coup that is just a very, very sad chapter in our history.”
A poll from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling last month showed Begich with an 8-point edge over Treadwell in a hypothetical matchup. Read the whole interview here.
