Campaign finance and a couple of Sullivans: Alaska voters head to polls

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CN) — With heated primary elections taking place across the nation, an outside observer could easily overlook what’s happening politically in the Last Frontier.There may be less lobbying money on the table than in Lower 48 states like Michigan and New York, but Alaska’s primary, which takes place Aug. 18, has stirred partisan drama and spurred headline-worthy legal battles. The state’s voting system is also a November target for wealthy donors like Elon Musk, whose spending could result in drastic changes to how Alaska’s primaries function.Voting in AlaskaIn 2020, a successful ballot measure created Alaska’s open primary and ranked choice system. It replaced separate party primaries with an open top-four contest, allowing any Alaskan to vote for any statewide primary candidate regardless of party affiliation. In the general election for statewide and state-level races, voters rank four candidates by numerical preference, a system also used in Maine.In 2024, just 743 voters spared this ranked choice system from being repealed by another ballot measure. In this November’s general election, that same initiative will return, this time backed by lobbying powers such as Aurora Action Committee — a Super PAC financed largely by Musk and fellow billionaires Jeff Yass and Jeffery Hildebrand.If passed, Ballot Measure 2 would also weaken Alaska’s campaign finance transparency law.Ballot Measure 1In the upcoming August primary, a separate measure relating to campaign finance in state and municipal races will be on the ballot. Though Alaskan voters overwhelmingly supported campaign contribution limits in the past, challenges in federal court led to those rules being partially overturned.Currently, the state doesn’t limit campaign contributions from individuals. If passed, 2026’s Ballot Measure 1 would set new caps on donations from individuals but raise some existing limits on donations from organizations.Senate raceWith Republicans aiming to protect their congressional majority and Democrats hoping to wrestle back control, the outcome of Alaska’s Senate race has both parties sweating.The frontrunner challenger to incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan is Democratic former Representative Mary Peltola, the first Alaskan Native member of Congress.Peltola’s campaign staff told Courthouse News Sullivan’s “price-hiking policies” and “shameless self-enrichment” have made him one of the least popular senators in the U.S., arguing rural Alaskans have been disproportionately affected by the senator’s votes in 2025 to “slash healthcare.”The Peltola campaign also criticized Sullivan’s unflinching support of President Donald Trump’s war against Iran, a conflict that has led to higher gas prices than Americans experienced during the majority of the Joe Biden administration.The incumbent senator’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment by press time.Dan S. Sullivan faces another interesting challenge in the race from Dan J. Sullivan. Initially barred from the ballot by the Alaska Division of Elections, this fisherman and retired teacher from Petersburg battled up to the state’s Supreme Court, which protected his right to run in a late June ruling. While he filed as a Republican, that party affiliation will not appear next to his name on the ballot.Dan J. Sullivan and Senator Dan S. Sullivan listed on the Alaska primary ballot. The state’s Division of Elections had previously tried to exclude the former Sullivan. (Alaska Division of Elections)“Entering this race, even though the chance of success is low, doesn’t negate my right to do so nor negate the value in the action,” Dan J. Sullivan told Courthouse News. “It is a moral decision for me — I am profoundly disappointed and angry at the type of leadership the Senator demonstrates, a style that works to divide Alaskans and vilify those with different opinions …combined with a myopic 12-year record that has done little to move our state forward.”House raceAlaska’s single seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, currently occupied by Nick Begich III, is also up for grabs. The Begich family is prominent in Alaska politics and mostly Democratic, but the incumbent representative is a Republican who consistently votes in alignment with President Trump.Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican and Trump confidant, flew to Alaska’s Mat-Su Valley last week to support Begich, speaking at an event that refused media and the public from entry.After the withdrawal of Democrat Matt Schultz, Begich’s opponent with the most momentum is Bill Hill, an independent who touts his rural Alaska upbringing, labor union support and rejection of corporate PACs as qualities that Last Frontier voters will embrace this August and November.In statements to Courthouse News, Hill campaign manager Kevin Groh pointed to Alaska’s political variability: The state went decidedly for Trump in the 2024 election but has also put Democrats and independents in office statewide.“Alaskans have a choice: Reelect a representative who has used Alaska’s lone vote in Congress to cut healthcare, raise prices, and give tax cuts to himself and his billionaire backers, or send an independent commercial fisherman and longtime teacher to Congress to put Alaska first,” Groh said. “Bill Hill will make billionaires and corporations pay their share, so we can fund our schools and lower costs.”Adding that Hill and Begich have polled closely, Groh drew an ideological line between the two candidates. “Bill Hill is a lifelong Alaskan running to represent the hardworking people of our state. Nick Begich is a millionaire representing Outside billionaires and corporations,” he said.The Begich campaign did not respond to requests for comment by press time.Gubernatorial raceSitting Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, is on his way out, and an array of new candidates are vying to become his successor.Tom Begich, uncle to Nick Begich and a former Democratic state senator, has amassed considerable middle-ground support, while progressive Democrats are more partial to former state representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who has made education and healthcare key priorities of his campaign.“Although Alaska’s U.S. Senate race has received far more national attention, the wide-open governor’s race tees up the possibility of a generational inflection point for the state — a northern permutation of dynamics playing out across the Lower 48 as well,” Kreiss-Tomkins’ campaign spokesperson Julian Chapin said.Chapin noted Kreiss-Tomkins is the only candidate to campaign in all 19 boroughs across Alaska. “He’s done a 300-mile Arctic snowmachine trip to Northwest Arctic villages as well as a 450-mile boat trip down the Yukon, visiting villages that haven’t seen a statewide candidate in decades. His campaign has been high energy and grassroots, and met Alaskans in their own communities, now matter how remote,” Chapin said.On the Republican side, candidates like former state senator Click Bishop, Air Force veteran Dave Bronson, former state Attorney General Treg Taylor and businesswoman Bernadette Wilson are hoping to make the top four.Bill Walker, an independent who previously served as Alaska’s governor from 2014 to 2018, is also in the primary mix.“Alaskans are facing real challenges: high energy costs, outmigration, workforce shortages, and the rising cost of living,” said Shannon Mason, Click Bishop’s campaign manager. “Click is a proven consensus builder with the experience to lead on day one."Voters in AnchorageRoughly half of Alaska’s population resides in or around the city of Anchorage, making it a political hub during election season far more so than the small state capital, Juneau.Anchorage voter Joyce Bovée, proudly showing off an Alaskan Native-made handbag, shared with Courthouse News that it was an easy choice for her to support Mary Peltola due to the former representative’s past work on behalf of indigenous communities.Another Anchorage voter, Al, who asked to be identified by first name only, expressed a strong dislike of Senator Dan S. Sullivan based on troubles at the pump. “He’s part of why gas has been six dollars, seven dollars… and they [Republicans] won’t pay for healthcare, but they keep giving our money to Israel’s genocide, Trump’s war, whatever else,” Al told Courthouse News.Another passerby simply attached an expletive to the incumbent senator’s name before walking away.Early voting in Alaska began on Aug. 3. Polls will close at 8 p.m. Alaska time on Aug. 18.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads