While the latest round of fundraising reports were giving us plenty of headaches (hence the late report on them), they contained plenty of good news for Democrats in key legislative races.
Current legislative candidates have together raised $4.25 million and have about $1.24 million left to spend, according to our breakdown of fundraising reports covering a fundraising period running from Oct. 6 through Oct. 27.
Democrats have pulled ahead in key races that had largely been neck-and-neck until the latest reporting period, while others like Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Begich made up significant ground. While money obviously isn’t everything when it comes to election day, it is a gauge of enthusiasm and campaign activity.
Here’s some takeaways from the key battles. A full breakdown of all races is at the bottom.
Governor’s race
While Begich still lags behind Dunleavy when it comes to overall fundraising, he’s closed the gap considerably since Walker suspended his campaign. All that money that’s been sitting on the sidelines finally chose a side and went to Begich. He brought in $334,433.46 during the reporting period while Dunleavy brought in $220,374.28. The overall picture still gives Dunleavy the edge with $809,894.73 total raised and $179,742.21 in cash on-hand. Begich’s overall fundraising is $731,078.06 and he has $171,041.07 on-hand.
Meanwhile, Walker still had some fundraising numbers to report from the period, hauling in $83,070.82 almost entirely before he suspended his campaign. He has $108,582.64 remaining on-hand, but as we wrote before he’s pretty limited in what he can do with that money.
The head-to-head figures paint just a fraction of the picture of spending on the governor’s race. There’s a significant amount of independent expenditure money targeting the governor’s race (somewhere in the range of $4 million to $5 million) that we’ll break down in a separate post.
Senate A, Fairbanks
The last round of campaign finance reports put the fundraising totals of the two candidates in state’s most expensive legislative race within $242.34. That’s no longer the case in the 21 days of fundraising since those numbers were reported. The race between Rep. Scott Kawasaki and Sen. Pete Kelly is now separated by a whopping $19,676.28 thanks to Kawasaki’s big haul. Kawasaki out-raised Kelly nearly two-to-one with $40,091.14 to Kelly’s $20,657.20.
Kawasaki thoroughly outspent Kelly during this time period, too, with $100,723.22 to Kelly’s $52,066.77. However, it was Kelly that held a $10,000 advantage in remaining cash on hand with $51,233.45 to Kawasaki’s $41,344.13.
House District 1, Fairbanks
The same story pretty much applies directly to the race for Kawasaki’s vacated seat. Where an even more narrow margin of $226.17 separated Democrat Kathryn Dodge and Republican Bart LeBon in the last reports, that has also similarly been demolished by the Democrat. Dodge hauled in $11,854.56 to LeBon’s $6,017.00, giving her a sizable lead.
LeBon outspent Dodge during the latest reporting period, $35,344.25 to her $27,637.15, but Dodge has spent far more overall. The total running spend for Dodge is $111,710.83 to LeBon’s $75,083.26. That gives LeBon the advantage for the remainder of the race with $29,154.74 cash on hand to Dodge’s $6,738.18.
House District 6, Fairbanks, Denali Borough and Interior villages
There hasn’t been much attention paid to the race for House District 6 between Republican Rep. Dave Talerico and Democratic challenger Ed Alexander, but we could be in for a surprise if fundraising is anything to go by. Alexander continued his strong fundraising during the recent period, pulling in $8,085.00 to bring his total campaign haul to a pretty strong $43,429.27.
Talerico meanwhile has been pretty quiet on the fundraising front throughout the race. He brought in just $2,400.00 during the latest report to put his overall total at $15,150.00.
Because House District 6 is so geographically massive, the money advantage could be pretty meaningful to reach voters.
House District 15, Anchorage
The conservative money continues to roll in for Republican write-in candidate Jake Sloan, who’s challenging Republican Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux for the northeast Anchorage seat. Sloan had the highest income of any of the FIVE candidates who filed reports for the seat with $8,290.00 (bringing his total to $27,129.92), while LeDoux raised $7,279.00 (bringing her total to an astounding $138,754.40) and Democrat Lyn Franks raised $7,214.75 (bringing her total to $18,980.26).
And that’s not to mention the impact of independent expenditures on the race, which have poured in on behalf of LeDoux and Sloan.
Whether any of this Republican Party ire results in anything on election day is anyone’s guess.
House District 27, Anchorage
Democrat Liz Snyder continued to roll in her race against Republican Rep. Lance Pruitt, raking in $15,375.00 during the latest reporting period to bring her grand total to $78,633.69. Pruitt’s lagged behind Snyder throughout most of the race and this was no different. He pulled in just $6,842.55 to bring his total to $49,912.37.
Snyder’s been one of the most active campaigners in any House race, which should add to her chances going into election day. Pruitt will have a slight advantage of cash on hand with $28,665.24 to Snyder’s $22,800.97.
House District 28, Anchorage
To continuing the theme of Democratic female candidates outpacing Republicans, we just have to hop over to House District 28 where Democrat Amber Lee has a cumulative fundraising total of $61,935.44 to Rep. Jennifer Johnston’s $35,337.03. Lee raised $10,184.17 during the latest fundraising period to Johnston’s $5,900.00.
Like other races, Lee has also outspent Johnston by a wide margin. Lee’s spend of $42,627.09 gives her $19,308.35 remaining cash on hand while Johnston’s cumulative spend of $16,326.69 leaves her with $24,010.34 for the remainder of the race.
House District 33 and 34, Juneau
The one place where key Democrats are lagging behind their opponents is Juneau, where Democrat Andi Story lags behind Republican Jerry Nankervis by less than $3,000. She closed the gap quite a bit in recent fundraising efforts with $17,598.04 of income to his $4,975.79. Overall, Nankervis stands at $94,547.11 to Story’s $91,294.19.
Story holds a significant cash advantage for the remainder of the race with $28,197.50 to Nankervis’ $16,757.55.
The fundraising gap is wider in the race for House District 33, where independent Chris Dimond holds a $16,146.04 advantage over Democrat Sara Hannan. Dimond’s raised a total of $79,277.97 to Hannan’s $63,131.93. He’s also outspent Hannan, meaning Hannan holds a slight advantage for remaining cash on hand at $15,860.88 to his $13,533.89.
Though Dimond is an independent and from Juneau, he’s made Democrats nervous because he’s said he’d be open to caucusing with either Democrats or Republicans (basically whoever is in power and gives him/his district a better seat).
Overall numbers
After spending a frustrating afternoon and morning attempting to do our usual number crunching on the latest reports (which gives us helpful information like how many people contributed to each campaign, the average size of the contribution and how much of that money came from PACs), we’ve abandoned all hope of getting something done in a reasonable amount of time. There’s just too many errors in there that need to be cleaned up by hand. We might take another crack at it, but for now here’s all of the top level number from the latest round of fundraising.
| Race | Candidate | Party | Total Income | Total Spend | 7-Day Income | 7-Day Spend | Debt | Cash On-hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Mark Begich | Democrat | $731,078.06 | $616,079.04 | $334,433.46 | $264,716.39 | $118,079.02 | $171,041.07 |
| Governor | Bill Walker | Independent | $763,413.05 | $954,771.12 | $83,070.82 | $113,520.73 | $42,197.09 | $108,582.64 |
| Governor | Mike Dunleavy | Republican | $809,894.73 | $630,152.52 | $220,374.28 | $206,317.19 | $2,655.00 | $179,742.21 |
| Governor | Billy Toien | Libertarian | $6,305.55 | $5,974.35 | $1,410.80 | $1,882.80 | $0.00 | $206.20 |
| Lt. Governor | Debra Call | Democrat | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Lt. Governor | Byron Mallott | Independent | $296,502.82 | $346,002.82 | $0.00 | $14,877.87 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Lt. Governor | Kevin Meyer | Republican | $146,169.65 | $113,573.86 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $2,391.65 |
| Senate A | Scott Kawasaki | Democrat | $207,410.42 | $170,966.61 | $40,091.14 | $100,723.22 | $0.00 | $41,344.13 |
| Senate A | Pete Kelly | Republican | $187,734.14 | $136,500.69 | $20,657.20 | $52,066.77 | $0.00 | $51,233.45 |
| Senate C | Click Bishop | Republican | $31,225.24 | $1,178.29 | $1,450.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $30,046.95 |
| Senate E | Su Kay | Democrat | $1,800.18 | $3,615.08 | $0.00 | $242.00 | $0.00 | $1,998.21 |
| Senate E | Mike Shower | Republican | $400.00 | $2,243.40 | $400.00 | $2,243.40 | $0.00 | -$1,843.40 |
| Senate G | Lora Reinbold | Republican | $74,084.60 | $69,544.22 | $5,590.00 | $5,961.51 | $4,809.00 | $4,540.38 |
| Senate G | Oliver Schiess | Democrat | $35,937.86 | $23,314.85 | $5,819.89 | $445.17 | $500.00 | $10,623.01 |
| Senate I | Jim Crawford | Republican | $14,546.27 | $12,003.43 | $5,611.00 | $9,803.88 | $0.00 | $2,542.84 |
| Senate I | Elvi Gray-Jackson | Democrat | $126,184.62 | $74,807.77 | $5,627.98 | $28,788.22 | $166.66 | $55,964.85 |
| Senate K | Sam Cason | Democrat (U) | $17,931.40 | $11,981.74 | $4,856.40 | $315.32 | $10,019.75 | $5,949.66 |
| Senate K | Mia Costello | Republican | $65,676.00 | $39,128.29 | $5,654.00 | $2,220.68 | $0.00 | $34,513.06 |
| Senate M | Chris Birch | Republican | $71,300.00 | $52,198.00 | $9,100.00 | $8,564.93 | $0.00 | $24,102.00 |
| Senate M | Janice Park | Democrat | $13,929.93 | $5,101.44 | $2,325.00 | $51.84 | $0.00 | $8,828.49 |
| Senate O | Ron Gillham | Write-in (R) | $17,538.00 | $15,080.67 | $2,160.00 | $2,611.24 | $0.00 | $2,457.33 |
| Senate O | Peter Micciche | Republican | $92,175.00 | $73,083.80 | $10,885.00 | $18,314.18 | $0.00 | $27,809.58 |
| Senate Q | Jesse Kiehl | Democrat | $117,354.06 | $99,969.79 | $11,500.00 | $40,678.52 | $6,450.00 | $22,156.46 |
| Senate Q | Don Etheridge | Independent | $51,201.19 | $38,940.89 | $7,719.79 | $10,872.81 | $232.89 | $12,260.30 |
| Senate S | Lyman Hoffman | Democrat | $56,466.29 | $26,261.50 | $2,207.52 | $2,376.96 | $0.00 | $38,393.21 |
| House 1 | Kathryn Dodge | Democrat | $118,467.01 | $111,710.83 | $11,854.56 | $27,637.15 | $0.00 | $6,738.18 |
| House 1 | Bart LeBon | Republican | $104,238.00 | $75,083.26 | $6,017.00 | $35,344.25 | $0.00 | $29,154.74 |
| House 2 | Steve Thompson | Democrat | $32,202.00 | $28,811.40 | $4,050.00 | $2,089.38 | $0.00 | $8,025.98 |
| House 2 | Van Lawrence | Republican | $25,865.39 | $25,715.88 | $4,594.20 | $8,402.29 | $0.00 | $149.51 |
| House 3 | Tammie Wilson | Republican | $3,383.78 | $1,610.80 | $780.00 | $779.61 | $0.00 | $6,772.98 |
| House 4 | Tim Lamkin | Independent | $6,750.00 | $6,561.99 | $2,750.00 | $2,505.44 | $510.00 | $733.66 |
| House 4 | Grier Hopkins | Democrat | $75,724.43 | $62,384.66 | $7,685.00 | $24,102.06 | $0.00 | $13,339.77 |
| House 4 | Jim Sackett | Republican | $71,285.40 | $50,273.48 | $9,489.85 | $8,934.32 | $5,776.52 | $21,011.92 |
| House 5 | Kevin McKinley | Republican | $27,382.85 | $24,263.72 | $5,168.00 | $10,166.58 | $0.00 | $3,119.13 |
| House 5 | Adam Wool | Democrat | $58,713.31 | $33,272.34 | $5,325.00 | $20,272.07 | $1,449.62 | $25,440.97 |
| House 6 | Ed Alexander | Democrat | $43,429.27 | $33,407.87 | $8,085.00 | $3,164.71 | $0.00 | $10,021.40 |
| House 6 | Dave Talerico | Republican | $15,150.00 | $13,864.25 | $2,400.00 | $9,426.23 | $0.00 | $5,065.96 |
| House 7 | Colleen Sullivan-Leonard | Republican | $11,198.51 | $3,491.89 | $1,350.00 | $630.55 | $0.00 | $7,706.62 |
| House 8 | James Chesbro Jr | Democrat | $6,780.20 | $4,701.69 | $645.00 | $2,189.00 | $1,000.00 | $2,078.51 |
| House 8 | Mark Fish | Libertarian | $7,383.44 | $6,735.17 | $1,025.00 | $2,403.59 | $0.00 | $621.32 |
| House 8 | Mark Neuman | Republican | $6,382.80 | $4,643.46 | $1,800.00 | $194.23 | $0.00 | $6,739.34 |
| House 9 | Bill Johnson | Democrat | $9,296.00 | $7,938.48 | $554.00 | $927.03 | $1,500.00 | $1,357.52 |
| House 9 | James Squyres | Independent | $1,200.00 | $185.27 | $0.00 | $85.27 | $0.00 | $1,014.73 |
| House 9 | George Rauscher | Republican | $36,468.87 | $38,253.36 | $3,870.00 | $1,476.53 | $626.33 | $3,259.63 |
| House 10 | David Eastman | Republican | $28,981.97 | $13,873.29 | $6,214.04 | $7,790.00 | $600.00 | $15,108.68 |
| House 10 | Patricia Faye-Brazel | Democrat | $18,912.38 | $16,749.34 | $3,598.82 | $4,260.26 | $1,500.00 | $2,163.04 |
| House 10 | Doyle Holmes | Independent | $40,588.15 | $33,767.91 | $1,249.99 | $7,110.66 | $0.00 | $6,820.24 |
| House 11 | Delena Johnson | Republican | $54,494.83 | $43,949.51 | $2,535.06 | $106.42 | $0.00 | $10,571.82 |
| House 11 | Eileen Patterson | Democrat | $15,117.30 | $8,323.15 | $6,265.00 | $2,778.88 | $1,000.00 | $6,794.15 |
| House 12 | Stephany Jeffers | Democrat (U) | $5,041.46 | $4,740.33 | $70.00 | $3,901.75 | $0.00 | $301.13 |
| House 12 | Cathy Tilton | Republican | $25,799.92 | $20,027.65 | $3,470.00 | $6,324.01 | $0.00 | $10,772.27 |
| House 13 | Nancy Dahlstrom | Republican | $30,183.63 | $21,360.35 | $3,305.00 | $1,929.20 | $0.00 | $8,823.28 |
| House 13 | Danyelle Kimp | Democrat (N) | $290.00 | $573.42 | $290.00 | $573.42 | $1,500.00 | -$283.42 |
| House 14 | Joe Hackenmueller | Democrat (N) | $4,120.00 | $3,448.98 | $635.00 | $510.22 | $500.00 | $671.02 |
| House 14 | Kelly Merrick | Republican | $72,537.99 | $59,970.25 | $10,316.26 | $3,587.29 | $0.00 | $12,567.74 |
| House 15 | Lyn Franks | Democrat | $18,980.26 | $13,645.39 | $7,214.75 | $7,061.80 | $1,000.00 | $5,309.29 |
| House 15 | Gabrielle LeDoux | Republican | $138,754.40 | $121,254.73 | $7,279.00 | $18,534.62 | $5,598.50 | $21,924.72 |
| House 15 | Patrick McCormack | Write-in (D) | $1,448.58 | $1,144.07 | $70.48 | $165.97 | $0.00 | $279.51 |
| House 15 | Rick Phillips | Write-in (NA) | $1,116.25 | $829.22 | $1,116.25 | $829.22 | $0.00 | $287.03 |
| House 15 | Jake Sloan | Write-in (R) | $27,129.92 | $13,944.93 | $8,290.00 | $8,642.97 | $0.00 | $13,184.99 |
| House 16 | Ivy Spohnholz | Democrat | $91,699.15 | $58,920.07 | $7,985.00 | $23,479.69 | $8,257.60 | $32,779.08 |
| House 16 | Stanley Wright | Republican | $1,215.00 | $1,734.19 | $1,215.00 | $1,734.19 | $0.00 | $2,803.74 |
| House 17 | Andy Josephson | Democrat | $24,676.73 | $35,254.47 | $7,451.31 | $14,011.32 | $6,922.89 | $17,438.17 |
| House 17 | Marcus Sanders | Republican | $25,690.55 | $23,452.18 | $5,602.00 | $4,964.62 | $3,102.80 | $2,238.37 |
| House 18 | Harriet Drummond | Democrat | $27,400.00 | $12,818.18 | $3,725.00 | $3,363.61 | $1,415.00 | $17,240.14 |
| House 18 | Anthony Lekanof | Republican | $6,900.00 | $4,926.48 | $215.00 | $223.30 | $2,425.34 | $1,973.52 |
| House 19 | Cean Stevens | Libertarian | $12,728.80 | $7,759.03 | $3,158.58 | $1,623.04 | $0.00 | $4,969.77 |
| House 20 | Zack Fields | Democrat | $58,053.78 | $49,646.50 | $6,920.00 | $4,405.67 | $0.00 | $8,407.28 |
| House 20 | Ceezar Martinson | Republican | $1,400.00 | $490.90 | $700.00 | $245.00 | $0.00 | $5,455.00 |
| House 21 | Matt Claman | Democrat | $109,053.55 | $72,242.44 | $15,145.98 | $35,824.58 | $0.00 | $41,783.54 |
| House 21 | Marilyn Stewart | Republican | $35,859.44 | $32,289.65 | $7,865.00 | $5,651.18 | $0.00 | $6,749.10 |
| House 22 | Dustin Darden | Democrat | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| House 22 | Sara Rasmussen | Republican | $54,047.74 | $21,631.42 | $12,980.00 | $4,486.80 | $16,891.39 | $32,416.32 |
| House 22 | Jason Grenn | Independent | $81,608.48 | $57,778.66 | $11,537.00 | $16,991.12 | $1,000.00 | $23,829.82 |
| House 23 | Connie Dougherty | Republican | $37,204.99 | $25,885.17 | $9,510.00 | $6,952.52 | $9,262.99 | $11,319.82 |
| House 23 | Chris Tuck | Democrat | $22,010.00 | $8,476.19 | $4,455.00 | $2,552.65 | $0.00 | $16,947.27 |
| House 24 | Chuck Kopp | Republican | $46,375.61 | $44,224.78 | $3,621.28 | $11,940.20 | $0.00 | $7,132.61 |
| House 24 | Sue Levi | Democrat | $1,650.00 | $137.46 | $1,650.00 | $137.46 | $1,500.00 | $1,512.54 |
| House 25 | Pat Higgins | Democrat | $42,203.00 | $32,357.95 | $11,278.00 | $17,265.62 | $0.00 | $9,845.05 |
| House 25 | Josh Revak | Republican | $75,659.23 | $63,866.43 | $12,610.00 | $26,715.87 | $0.00 | $11,792.80 |
| House 26 | Anita Thorne | Democrat | $22,967.00 | $17,033.53 | $9,570.00 | $13,152.80 | $1,334.00 | $5,933.47 |
| House 26 | Laddie Shaw | Republican | $38,744.43 | $28,725.84 | $5,210.97 | $2,776.20 | $0.00 | $10,018.59 |
| House 27 | Lance Pruitt | Republican | $49,912.37 | $21,561.18 | $6,842.55 | $3,779.87 | $13,885.60 | $28,665.24 |
| House 27 | Liz Snyder | Democrat | $78,633.69 | $55,832.72 | $15,375.00 | $26,399.77 | $2,000.00 | $22,800.97 |
| House 28 | Jennifer Johnston | Republican | $35,337.03 | $16,326.69 | $5,900.00 | $4,776.01 | $0.00 | $24,010.34 |
| House 28 | Amber Lee | Democrat | $61,935.44 | $42,627.09 | $10,184.17 | $8,381.51 | $0.00 | $19,308.35 |
| House 29 | Shawn Butler | Democrat (N) | $36,385.95 | $35,502.34 | $5,479.72 | $14,875.03 | $0.00 | $1,829.18 |
| House 29 | Ben Carpenter | Republican | $9,573.34 | $2,263.50 | $5,543.34 | $1,556.53 | $0.00 | $7,779.84 |
| House 30 | Gary Knopp | Republican | $10,538.36 | $4,890.74 | $1,750.00 | $1,570.00 | $0.00 | $5,647.62 |
| House 31 | Paul Seaton | Democrat (N) | $89,507.69 | $80,647.01 | $10,051.00 | $24,866.31 | $0.00 | $13,910.68 |
| House 31 | Sarah Vance | Republican | $35,577.47 | $32,708.35 | $8,620.90 | $12,656.30 | $0.00 | $2,869.12 |
| House 32 | Dennis Harris | Democrat | $5,629.15 | $4,631.42 | $373.00 | $782.88 | $0.00 | $997.73 |
| House 32 | Sandra M. Katelnikoff-Lester | Independent | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| House 32 | Louise Stutes | Republican | $40,851.50 | $33,518.81 | $2,587.50 | $4,739.50 | $0.00 | $12,332.69 |
| House 33 | Sara Hannan | Democrat | $63,131.93 | $47,271.05 | $6,203.25 | $19,356.08 | $0.00 | $15,860.88 |
| House 33 | Chris Dimond | Independent | $79,277.97 | $65,744.08 | $4,200.00 | $3,472.46 | $0.00 | $13,533.89 |
| House 34 | Jerry Nankervis | Republican | $94,547.11 | $77,789.56 | $4,975.79 | $32,078.57 | $1,590.02 | $16,757.55 |
| House 34 | Andi Story | Democrat | $91,294.19 | $63,096.69 | $17,598.04 | $31,931.10 | $4,800.00 | $28,197.50 |
| House 35 | Johnathan Kreiss-Tomkins | Democrat | $71,345.02 | $37,312.21 | $12,893.00 | $14,535.28 | $12,455.00 | $34,032.81 |
| House 35 | Richard Wein | Republican | $38,191.73 | $40,278.45 | $2,950.00 | $9,700.18 | $0.00 | -$2,086.72 |
| House 36 | Dan Ortiz | Independent | $51,017.74 | $33,445.26 | $6,375.00 | $8,855.71 | $1,447.24 | $17,672.48 |
| House 36 | Trevor Shaw | Republican | $8,902.94 | $4,313.13 | $379.00 | $2,736.67 | $6,135.68 | $4,489.81 |
| House 37 | Bryce Edgmon | Democrat | $48,267.08 | $24,087.88 | $6,690.00 | $9,113.96 | $6,470.03 | $24,543.50 |
| House 37 | William Weatherby | Republican | $1,550.00 | $1,311.67 | $1,550.00 | $1,311.67 | $148.00 | $238.33 |
| House 38 | Darren Deacon | Republican | $5,797.00 | $6,076.91 | $2,000.00 | $3,577.06 | $0.00 | $769.16 |
| House 38 | Tiffany Zulkosky | Democrat | $36,771.65 | $20,183.21 | $980.00 | $9,924.55 | $0.00 | $15,825.78 |
| House 39 | Neal Foster | Democrat | $9,950.00 | $0.00 | $2,450.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $9,993.38 |
| House 40 | John Lincoln | Democrat | $50,726.00 | $43,887.45 | $4,550.00 | $6,784.19 | $625.00 | $6,838.61 |
| House 40 | Leanna Mack | Independent | $601.00 | $66.45 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| House 40 | Patrick Savok | Independent | $200.00 | $140.00 | $200.00 | $140.00 | $0.00 | $60.00 |
Why does the midnight sun have Rep Steve Thompson listed as a Democrat ?
Ack. Thanks. I re-used an old sheet that had an error in it without correcting it again this time around either. Thanks for the heads-up.
-Matt