It’s been a productive summer for Bill Hill — and not just when it comes to filling his freezer.
The commercial fisherman and independent candidate who’s challenging Republican US Rep. Nick Begich III for Alaska’s US House seat raised more than $1.1 million in the latest fundraising window, from July 1 through September 30. The Hill campaign shared the numbers exclusively with the Alaska Current ahead of the Oct. 15 reporting deadline with the Federal Elections Commission, detailing contributions from more than 2,500 individual Alaskans.
“I’m proud to have support from communities across Alaska from Kotzebue to Ketchikan to King Salmon to Kenai. We’re building a broad coalition ready to take back this seat for working Alaskans,” Hill said in a statement.
The money raised over the last three months is nearly equal to what Hill had raised through the first six months of the year, a period when he was splitting the anti-Begich vote with Democratic candidate Matt Schultz. Schultz announced he was dropping out of the race in late July, citing a lack of resources, and clearing a path for Hill to be the only major candidate in the race against Begich.
The race also features Democrat Eric Hafner, an imprisoned felon who has never set foot in Alaska, and Libertarian Jim McDermott. The race will be conducted with ranked-choice voting, allowing voters to rank candidates in the event that no one reaches an outright majority of the vote. Polling shows Begich and Hill as the only two candidates with a path to victory.
Since Schultz’s exit, polling has suggested that Hill has a real shot at winning over Alaskans—once they get to know him. While most voters have heard of Begich, only about a third of voters had any opinion of Hill, according to a poll in August. Once voters were given an overview of Hill’s positions, however, particularly on working-class issues like affordability and housing, they favored him.
To that end, the Hill campaign has deployed the money with a slate of new television ads and a busy travel schedule throughout the state in a bid to introduce himself and his stances to more voters.
Still, Begich has a formidable financial advantage and has been fundraising since the 2024 election. Through the end of July, he had reported raking in more than $5.4 million.
Spending by third-party groups has been roughly evenly split, with each side spending about $3 million.
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.
