Nicholas Joseph Begich III[1] (/ˈbɛɡitʃ/ BEH-ghitch; born October 21, 1977) is an American politician and businessman who has been serving as the U.S. representative for Alaska's at-large congressional district since 2025.

He is the paternal grandson of Nick Begich Sr., who served as a U.S. Representative for Alaska from 1971 until his disappearance in a plane crash in 1972.

[3] In 2016, he ran for Seat A in District 2 (Chugiak/Eagle River) of the Anchorage City Council against Republican incumbent Amy Demboski.

[14] The election was a 3-way race of Begich, former Republican Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Democratic former state Representative Mary Peltola.

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).

[20] By contrast, some scholars criticized the instant-runoff procedure for its pathological behavior,[21][22] the result of a center squeeze.

[22][23][24] Although Peltola received a plurality of first choice votes and won in the final round, a majority of voters ranked her last or left her off their ballot entirely.

[22] Begich was eliminated in the first round, despite being preferred by a majority to each one of his opponents, with 53 percent of voters ranking him above Peltola.

[22][25][26] However, Palin spoiled the election by splitting the first-round vote, leading to Begich's elimination and costing Republicans the seat.

Peltola won the election as the majority-preferred (Condorcet) candidate, with ballots indicating support from a majority of voters.

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.