Alaska’s campaign finance regulators may finally get answers about the inner workings of a campaign that backed Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s election in 2022, more than 14 months after the polls closed.
On Friday, Superior Court Judge Una Gandbhir ordered the Republican Governors Association and independent expenditure group A Stronger Alaska to answer subpoenas issued by the Alaska Public Offices Commission stemming from a complaint filed in the run-up to the 2022 election. The groups had refused to answer the subpoenas, arguing in part that they had already won the case.
The complaint, which was filed by the Alaska Public Interest Research Group and the 907 Initiative, alleged the Republican Governors Association used A Stronger Alaska as a shell campaign to skirt the state’s enhanced disclosure laws. Campaign filings show the Republican Governors Association contributed $3 million to the group in February 2021, just days before voter-approved dark money laws went into effect, but the complaint argues that was just a cover.
The money never left the control of the Republican Governors Association, the complaint argues, and the campaign was effectively run directly by the national group. That could be a big deal as it would not only mean that the Republican Governors Association was campaigning as an unregistered group — exposing it to potentially massive fines — but it may force the disclosure of its contributors.
Under the election reforms passed by voters in 2020, so-called dark money groups like the Republican Governors Association are required to disclose the true source of their contributions when campaigning on races involving candidates. The provisions were recently targeted by conservative House Republicans for repeal, with some arguing that the law has been meaningless.
At the heart of the issue are banking records and other internal documents that would confirm the suspicions. The groups have refused to provide the documents, arguing that testimony at an APOC hearing covered everything that was in the documents.
Judge Gandbhir disagreed with the argument, likening it to trusting a money launderer to give an accurate account of bank transactions.
“A claim that prior testimony about the information contained in such documents is the same as an actual document is simply without merit,” Judge Gandbhir wrote. “Applying Defendants’ logic, a subpoena for bank records in an investigation could be voided because a suspect testified that he did not launder money.”
The group also argued, in essence, that they had already won the case because regulators declined to rule against them during the expedited hearings leading up to the 2022 election. Judge Gandbhir also found this unconvincing, noting that regulators had only declined to take action at the time and were waiting for the full investigation to decide, a process that she noted is “not uncommon and is seen as a valid method in many instances where time may be of the essence.”
Judge Gandbhirdenied some of the subpoenas as too broad, leaving the door open for regulators to file more narrowly tailored requests. As for the standing subpoenas on the banking records and other pieces, the groups have 15 days to comply.
The ruling was celebrated by the Alaska Public Interest Research Group.
“This is great,” said Alaska Public Interest Research Group Executive Director Veri di Suvero in a prepared statement. “Alaskans need to know that our election and campaign laws are meaningful and fair. This shows that there is accountability within the system. Despite the RGA and ASA’s efforts to delay and evade this investigation at every turn, the public can be assured that the transparency mandated by our campaign finance laws will be enforced.”
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.
