This story was originally published by the Alaska Beacon.
Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, will pay more than $2,000 to settle a series of campaign finance complaints filed by a former chair of the Alaska Republican Party in 2025.
The Alaska Public Offices Commission approved the final consent agreement July 28. Under the terms of the agreement, Stutes will pay a penalty of $2,643.50 and repay her campaign $13,869.44 to settle complaints regarding improper campaign finance reporting and improper campaign spending in the 2020, 2022 and 2024 elections.
Investigating the complaint by Randy Ruderich against Stutes, the commission said the Kodiak legislator responded promptly to requests for information, and that there was “nothing to indicate” that serious violations identified by Ruderich were “intentional or provided a personal benefit to the candidate.”
Stutes, who has represented Kodiak, Cordova and parts of the Gulf of Alaska coast since 2015, is running for state Senate this year, seeking to replace Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak. Two other Republicans are also running for the seat.
By phone, Stutes said Ruderich informed her about the complaint before he sent it to APOC, and she ended up being the one informing regulators about the issue.
The issues were the result of innocent mistakes, and she’s actually grateful to Ruderich for pointing them out, she said. She’s no longer trying to keep her own campaign accounts and has hired a professional.
“What gave me the most satisfaction of all this was saying to Randy Ruderich, ‘I really appreciate you calling this to my attention because if you didn’t, I’d still be making those mistakes, and then it would be a great big mess.’”
James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. A graduate of Virginia Tech, he is married to Caitlyn Ellis, owns a house in Juneau and has a small sled dog named Barley.
