As Republican candidates are apparently busy building their campaign apparatus, Alaska Sen. Mark Begich has been hitting the airwaves. His ads about ObamaCare and the government shutdown began airing months ago. This week, he released another ad that’s touting his pro-development record and taking Washington to task for not understanding Alaska issues.

For all of Begich’s supposed disdain for the Washington establishment, the ad was first shared by his campaign not to local reporters, but to Politico, the quintessential inside-the-beltway political news site. (Listen to the ad here.)

“Even though Washington keeps trying to stop Alaska from developing our natural resources, I’m pushing for more oil drilling and mining because it means thousands of new jobs that you can raise a family on, and because it’s our land, and we know best how to use it,” he says.

The ad also mentions how he is working with Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski on getting roads built to the Niblack and Bokan mines, and how he got the Forest Service to open up 11 new drill sites at Greens Creek mine in Southeast.

The ad follows a potentially politically damaging decision by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to block a road between Aleutian Chain King Cove and Cold Bay. The road, which cuts through a slice of federal land, would provide the residents of the King Cove community access to an all weather airport for medical evacuations.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com