In a visit last Thursday to Homer, Independent candidate for U.S. House Bill Hill said one reason that motivates him to run is “I look at a nation where we daily see attacks on the rule of law, we see naked corruption. We need change. We need big change, and change that requires Alaskans to step up.”

He spoke to about 60 people packed into the outdoor shelter at Grace Ridge Brewing. Stocky and tall, he wore a slogan-less ball cap, hoodie and an insulated vest with a William Spear salmon zipper pull.

Noting the advantage of his opponent’s name, he confronted the Begich dynasty head on. Nick Begich III’s grandfather was a Democratic Congressman, his Uncle Mark was a Democratic U.S. Senator and Anchorage mayor, and his Uncle Tom was a Democratic Alaska Senator and recent primary candidate — and second-place finisher — for governor.

“Bill Hill’s just some guy out of town, right? And we’ve got to get that name out across the state, and so I need your help to do that,” he said.

In the Alaska primary, Hill finished second with 33% of the U.S House vote to 45% of the vote for Begich.

Hill spoke of his Alaska roots. Dena’ina Athabascan, he was born in Kokhanok on Iliamna Lake, where he grew up with no TV, telephone or radio, and not even electricity for part of his life. His family had 50 sled dogs that Bill and his brother cooked for every day.

“We hunted, we fished, we picked berries, put food on the table. We worked hard every single day,” he said. “… I feel very fortunate to have lived that Bush frontier, Alaska lifestyle.”

In high school, his family moved from a village of 100 to Naknek in Bristol Bay with more than 1,000 people. He’s also lived in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau and now calls Naknek home. In Naknek he started his work career at 8, helping out on his family’s setnet site.

“My mom and Aunt Gloria, two of my brothers, we chased the tide out twice a day,” Hill said. “… You know that was good, hard, muddy, dirty work, but a good clean living.”

Later, he became a drift fisherman. This summer he took a break from campaigning to fish.

“I raised three of my kids on the boat. Commercial fishing is such an amazing place for young people. They learn how to work hard. They learn how to work beyond their limitations,” he said.

Both Hill’s parents worked as educators, a profession he took up, too.

“I spent 25 years as a teacher, principal and superintendent in this state in communities large and small. Did some really great things. Built pathways for kids to get successful lives,” he said.

Hill also ran a small business for 12 years with his wife, Diane, making textile products for the commercial fishing industry: “Brailers, net bags, you name it,” he said. He said they started the business to keep some of the money and work local.

The father of four children and grandfather of seven, he said, “I look around at a state where I think about young people, and I think about the fact that we have a state where their opportunity to work hard, like all of us have done, to build homes, to build families, to have enough money left at the end of the month, to have health care — that is slipping away, and I can’t stand by it.”

That’s part of his motivation to run for Congress, he said.

Hill mentioned a young woman he met in Southeast Alaska with two children whose monthly Affordable Care Act health insurance premiums went from $400 to $3,000.

“She’s going to go without health insurance. Her kids are not going to get preventative. Their only use of the healthcare system will be the emergency room. That’s wrong,” he said.

Hill didn’t spare any criticism of Begich. He noted the impact “of haphazard tariffs and endless wars in the Middle East.” He spoke of rising fuel prices, up to $9 a gallon in Naknek and $15 a gallon in other villages.

“We need people to work on that. We need people to understand what our lives are like, and right now our representative does not understand that,” Hill said of Begich. “He’s voted against health care. He’s voted for war. He’s voted for tariffs, and he’s also voted to get the largest tax cuts in history to billionaires and corporations. That is not what Alaska stands for.”

On other issues, Hill said he supports ending Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed large political contributions. He’s a subsistence hunter, he said, “so Second Amendment rights are really important to me.”

Hill also said he supports a woman’s right to choose. “There are some things I think most Alaskans agree on, which is that government should never interfere between a person and their health care,” he said.

Mentioning the multipartisan coalitions in the Alaska Senate and House, Hill said, “Alaska can be a beacon for change. Look south. Look to our state legislature… Our new election system forced people towards the middle, and now our state government is working.”

As an Independent in Congress, Hill said he thinks he could bring something similar.

Being an Independent wouldn’t be a disadvantage, Hill said. He said people who’ve worked in Washington, D.C. told him that “you may end up being one of the most powerful people. And if you have a small group of Independents or even a small coalition of people, they could swing every single vote that happens.”