Independent candidate Bill Hill, who is one of the leading challengers to Alaska U.S. Republican Nick Begich, announced today that he’s raised more than $780,000 since entering the campaign earlier this year.
The Hill campaign shared the fundraising numbers with The Alaska Current ahead of the quarterly fundraising reports, which are due out later this month. According to the campaign, the money comes from more than 4,500 individuals and is the second-most ever raised by a non-incumbent Alaska House candidate in their first quarter.
“Before getting in this race, I worked alongside Alaskans out on fishing boats, on construction sites, and in classrooms,” said Bill Hill. “I’ve seen firsthand: Alaskans win when we work hard and work together. I’m grateful to everyone who has chipped in. This support shows that Alaska is ready for a representative who puts working people over special interests.”
According to year-end reports, Begich raised $3.2 million last year.
The race against Begich, a staunch Trump ally, has attracted several challengers, including Hill, who’s positioned as a left-of-center candidate, and Democratic candidate Rev. Matt Schultz, a progressive who has often been critical of both Hill and Begich.
Schultz launched his campaign last October, reporting $300,000 in contributions by year’s end.
Full numbers on the first quarter of fundraising in congressional races will be out April 15.
While two challengers once usually ensured a cakewalk for the incumbent, Alaska’s election system operates under an open primary and ranked-choice voting. The top four candidates from the primary will advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation, and the general election will be conducted by ranked-choice voting, in which voters rank candidates according to their preferences, with the last-place candidate’s votes redistributed based on those rankings.
So, while there’s been some grumbling about the two challengers vying to unseat Begich, voters can rank both ahead of Begich to ensure their votes consolidate behind whoever’s the leading candidate against the Republican.
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 Bluesky.
