Alaska campaign finance regulators will review complaints against a sprawling campaign to overturn the state’s voter-approved open primary and ranked-choice voting system, which opponents argue used a fake church to hide the source of the money fueling the effort.
At a hearing on Thursday, the Alaska Public Offices Commission will decide on possible penalties against the campaign backing the ballot initiative to repeal the state’s voting system, a collection of groups and individuals organized under the name Alaskans for Honest Elections. They are also set to hear a separate complaint against an anti-RCV group founded by former U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka.
APOC staff have already investigated the complaint, which was brought by the pro-RCV Alaskans for Better Elections, against Alaskans for Honest Elections and issued a report that largely agrees, finding the campaign broke several laws. That includes failing to report their activity promptly, failing to include accurate “paid for by” disclosures, failing to register in the first place, and illegally filtering money through a Washington-based church, the Ranked Choice Education Association.
The total fines recommended by the staff report are north of $100,000, more than Alaskans for Honest Elections has raised throughout its lifetime.
Most of those fines revolve around a contribution that Art Mathias, a conservative activist and key initiative sponsor, filtered through the Ranked Choice Education Association and into Alaskans for Honest Elections. Alaska campaign law requires people backing campaigns to disclose their names, but Mathias initially hid his identity on the reports by first giving the $90,000 to the Ranked Choice Education Association, which turned around and contributed the money to Alaskans for Honest Elections.
Alaskans for Better Elections charged in their complaint that the church was being used to obtain illegal tax breaks, but APOC has repeatedly stated that federal tax law is outside its jurisdiction. Anonymous or masked political contributions, however, are. According to the APOC staff report, it appears Mathias knowingly used the church to filter the source of the contribution.
“A contribution must be made in the name of the true source of the money or thing of value – a person may not contribute using the name of another; or use a third-party conduit,” explained the report. “On these facts, staff concludes that the weight of the evidence establishes that Mr. Mathias contributed his funds to RCEA knowing that they would be repurposed to support AHE through contributions as needed and thereby violated [state law].”
Under the letter of the law, the fine for making such a contribution can be equal to the contribution. Knowingly breaking the law, however, can triple that penalty. That’s what Alaskans for Better Elections argues should be done in its final pre-hearing brief, suggesting that the penalty against Mathias should start at $270,000 before considering any potential reductions.
Alaskans for Better Elections argued APOC should make a point to reaffirm the section of state law the groups are trying to shield themselves with “does not somehow authorize misleading anonymous or fictitious contributions to organizations that support ballot initiatives.”
The Alaskans for Honest Elections group is being represented by former Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson, who was known for spearheading anti-abortion lawsuits before he resigned in 2020 amid revelations that he had harassed a younger state employee over the course of hundreds of “uncomfortable” texts. Attorney Scott Kendall, who worked previously for independent Gov. Bill Walker, is at the helm of Alaskans for Better Elections’ filings in these complaints.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.
