Nick Begich, Alaska's only member of the U.S. House, is standing by a fellow Republican accused of grooming a teenager. He endorsed her in August. On October 4, she posted photos of herself standing next to him at a church candidate event.

The lawmaker is State Sen. Cathy Tilton of Wasilla. The Alaska Current reported on October 30 that Begich has stood by her "not only figuratively" but "literally." And Tilton is not just any state senator to him. In 2024, as Speaker of the Alaska House, she publicly took credit for killing an election bill because, she said, it would have helped his opponent.

What Tilton is accused of

The accusations come from the family and friends of Luke Whaley, a Wasilla man who died by suicide in 2023 at age 47. The Anchorage Daily News reported on October 13 that several people it interviewed said the relationship had been "an open secret in the Mat-Su for years."

According to the Daily News and the Current:

• Whaley's family accuses Tilton of pursuing a manipulative sexual relationship with him that allegedly began when he was in high school and working for her, and went on for decades into his adulthood.
• Their account is laid out in on-camera interviews with family and friends on an anonymously hosted website. Friends and family blame his suicide on what Tilton put him through.
• A high-school classmate who attended the same church, Melissa Faustino, told the Daily News she once caught Tilton sitting very close to Whaley as a teen. "It looked inappropriate to me from a teenage perspective," she said. She said he told her even then "that he felt like it was wrong and she had taken advantage of him."

Tilton has not addressed the allegations. She is still campaigning, and still sharing the stage with her party's biggest names.

What Begich did

In August, Begich endorsed her. The Current calls that "a relatively rare move in state legislative races." His statement:

"I am proud to support my friend, Senator Cathy Tilton. Cathy has dedicated herself to serving Alaska with integrity, conviction and strong conservative leadership. … I am grateful for her friendship, her service and her continued commitment to the people of Alaska."

The allegations had already begun "circulating in earnest earlier this year," according to the Daily News interviews the Current cites. On October 4, Tilton posted photos of herself beside Begich at a church-organized candidate event at King's Alaska. That was nine days before the Daily News published its report on the allegations. The Current reports no statement from Begich about them since.

He isn't the only one. On October 18, Tilton was photographed near U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and his family at another church event.

Why Tilton matters to Begich

Begich lost his first run for the U.S. House in 2022. Tilton won her race that year and became Speaker of the Alaska House, with strong control over which bills moved.

In October 2024, with Begich running against Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, Tilton went on conservative talk radio and took credit for killing an election bill because one part of it "would have leaned the election towards Mary Peltola." That part was meant to cut how often ballots from rural, mostly Alaska Native communities get thrown out over paperwork errors, like a missing witness signature. Peltola is Alaska Native.

The Alaska Federation of Natives said her remarks raised "troubling implications that members of the State House would actively work to disenfranchise voters." Begich won.

Rural ballots are still being thrown out at far higher rates. An Alaska Beacon analysis of this year's primary found that 32 of 81 absentee ballots, almost 40%, were rejected in House District 40, which covers the North Slope and Northwest Arctic Borough. The statewide average was 3.4%. The Beacon traces much of it to mail delays this time, and an absentee ballot in Alaska still needs a witness signature to count. In Tilton's own district, the Current reports, fewer than 2% were rejected.

This year Begich faces independent Bill Hill, who, like Peltola, is Alaska Native.

It isn't the first time Begich has kept his distance from hard questions. In August, his "grassroots rally" with House Speaker Mike Johnson had a secret address, an ID check and no press allowed.

What we know

Nick Begich endorsed State Sen. Cathy Tilton in August, praising her "integrity," and posed beside her on October 4. That was after accusations had begun circulating that she pursued a decades-long sexual relationship with a man that began when he was a teenager working for her. Tilton has not answered the allegations, and the Current reports no statement from Begich. In 2024, as House Speaker, Tilton said she killed an election bill because it would have helped Begich's opponent. That bill was meant to stop rural Alaska Native ballots from being thrown out, and this year's primary saw almost 40% of absentee ballots rejected in one mostly Native district.

Source

• Nick Begich has stood by—and endorsed—state lawmaker accused of grooming teen — The Alaska Current