Americans for Prosperity Alaska — the local branch of the Koch Brothers-funded political network — has spent more than $100,000 to boost Republicans in the state legislature race, more than all other groups combined.
The spending, which is reported to the Alaska Public Offices Commission via regular disclosures, boosts six Republican candidates — most of whom have reported very little campaign activity of their own — in districts critical to maintaining a Republican majority in the House and breaking a bipartisan coalition in the Senate. In an unusual move, the spending also appears to mimic the activity a candidate would typically undertake.
Relatively lackluster campaigns
First, as mentioned above, most of the candidates backed by the group have reported very little campaign activity and are lagging far behind their Democratic, independent and moderate Republican challengers.
That’s the case for East Anchorage Republican Rep. Stanley Wright, who has reported raising about $10,000 this year. His Democratic challenger, Ted Eischeid, has reported raising $85,210.13. Eischeid came within 100 votes of Wright in the 2022 election, so the race is seen as a critical flip to eat into the narrow Republican majority.
Americans for Prosperity Alaska has reported spending more than $26,000 boosting Wright.
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It’s even more extreme in the neighboring House District 18, which covers part of East Anchorage, Government Hill and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. There, Republican candidate David Nelson — a one-term legislator defeated in 2022 — has raised just $565 for his rematch against incumbent Democratic Rep. Cliff Groh. Groh has reported raising $116,865.84, more than 200 times as much as Nelson.
Americans for Prosperity has reported nearly $8,000 in that race to boost the Republican.
Former Republican legislator Mia Costello — who stepped into the race for West Anchorage’s House District 15 after GOP Rep. Tom McKay bowed out of what is seen as Democrats’ best chance for a pickup — is benefiting from $20,782.50 in Americans for Prosperity Alaska spending. She has reported raising $31,075, while Democratic opponent Denny Wells has racked up nearly $145,000.
Not all beneficiaries of the spending have had lackluster fundraising. Leslie Hajdukovich and Jared Goecker, Republicans running in what are seen as the two most competitive and critical Senate seats to flip for hardline Republicans, have raised considerable amounts of money on their own, reporting $170,000 and $73,000, respectively.
Goecker is running against Eagle River Sen. Kelly Merrick, a worker-friendly moderate Republican who has been a cornerstone of the Senate’s bipartisan coalition. Hajdukovich is running against Fairbanks Democratic Sen. Scott Kawasaki, who Republicans have devoted considerable effort to beating in nearly every cycle since he won the seat in 2006.
Americans for Prosperity Alaska has spent $30,282.38 backing Goecker and another $18,172 backing Hajdukovich.
Running the campaign
The second reason the spending is unusual is that it more closely reflects the sort of on-the-ground work the candidate and volunteers usually do. While some of the spending has gone to mailers supporting the candidates — one of the traditional ways the independent expenditure group has boosted candidates — a vast majority of the spending has gone to Canvass America, a firm that directly hires people to go door-to-door campaigning on behalf of candidates.
According to the group’s disclosure reports, more than $70,000 has been spent on canvassing in support of five of the six candidates.
To many campaign watchers, the spending reflects an effort for Americans for Prosperity Alaska to effectively take over the campaigning for the candidates. This strategy was put on display in 2018 when an independent expenditure group handled most of the campaign for Gov. Mike Dunleavy in his first run for governor. While the Republican’s personal campaign was meager and not allowed to directly communicate or coordinate with the group, the state was blanketed in signs and other materials put together by the independent expenditure group that Dunlavy’s wealthy brother primarily funded.
In this case, the money appears to come from a wide range of wealthy donors outside Alaska. Pinning down the exact source of the money is difficult for independent expenditure groups. However, the true-source report that a broader range of funds than what flows into Alaska includes the Koch Industries, Walmart heir Rob Walton and other business executives.
In a newsletter critical of the spending, Democratic Rep. Zack Fields — who is running unopposed and has been active in calling foul on other conservative campaigns and candidates this cycle — accused the group of opposing the Legislature’s recent push to restore public pensions for state employees. The issue has long been a critical driver for organized labor and public sector workers, who are exempted by law from Social Security, and saw recent progress in the Alaska Legislature.
“The Koch Brothers have long attempted to break labor unions; and police, firefighters, and teachers all have strong and effective unions,” Fields wrote, adding, “AFP is trying to take out pro-police and pro-education legislators because the Koch Brothers oppose law enforcement, despise labor unions, and want to dismantle public education.”
Here’s how the spending breaks down by the numbers:
Jared Goecker – $30,282.38, of which $14,000 is for canvassing
Stanley Wright – $26,121.96, of which $20,520 is for canvassing
Mia Costello – $20,782.50, of which $18,000 is for canvassing
Leslie Hajdukovich – $18,172.00, of which $14,000 is for canvassing
David Nelson – $7,987.06, of which $3,600 is for canvassing
Jeremy Bynum – $500, where none went to canvassing
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.
