Alaska’s primary election is set for next Tuesday and will largely determine the flavor of Republicans we have in Juneau as party-liners hope to give the boot moderates and far-right David Eastman in hopes of claiming a more pliable Legislature.
What’s going to happen? Will Gov. Mike Dunleavy and company get the rubberstamp Legislature he’s been pining after? Will moderates and their union backers win out the day? How’s that whole vote-by-mail thing gonna work out?
Who knows! All we know here at The Midnight Sun is how to waste a day digging through APOC reports.
Here’s some quick takeaways from what we found, but you can find a full table of where the candidates stand at the end of this post:
- The heat is really turning up in the race for Senate District N, which is currently held by Senate President Cathy Giessel. In a sentence that would have been unimaginable in 2018, Giessel is on the outs with Republicans for not being conservative enough. Giessel spent the last two years working surprisingly well with the Democratic Minority and bipartisan House to oppose the worst of the first two years of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration. She topped the field fundraising during the last three-week period with $28,022 (about $3,500 coming from union PACs, which again, would have been shocking before this last session) raised to bring her total to $105,885. For the final week, she has a whopping $72,938 in cash on hand. Her primary challenger, Roger Holland raised nearly $14,000 during that time with a running total of $40,868. He has $6,100 on hand.
- It’s a similarly heated primary for Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, who’s facing primary challenger Tom McKay. They’re neck-and-neck in terms of fundraising over the last three weeks with McKay raising $12,841 to Kopp’s $12,820. Kopp holds the overall fundraising advantage with $69,000 as his running total to McKay’s $36,600. Kopp has $16,430 on hand to McKay’s $10,280.
- While you’d think that Sen. Natasha von Imhof might be in the same hot water as Giessel, Kopp and other moderates, she’s also got a primary opponent in dipshit Stephen Duplantis. Out of the more than $113,000 she’s raised, she’s so far spent just $13,199.57 and has nearly $100,000 left in the bank for a general election race against Jeff Landfield ($14,100.00 total raised) and Democrat Roselynn Casey (total raised $5,618.57).
- On the other end of the spectrum, Rep. David Eastman is going up against the most expensive primary campaign in the state put up by Jesse Sumner. Sumner, who dumped a load of his own money into the campaign, has so far spent $81,000 on the race and most of it has gone to Imperial Independent Media (which is owned by House minority Republican spokesman Zachary Freeman). The race has also been the target of plenty of national dollars through independent expenditures.
- Democratic challenger Liz Snyder is still at the top of the fundraising race with a whopping $121,000 in total. Her fundraising has slowed down a bit, bringing in just $6,200 over the last fundraising period. Still, she’s far out ahead of incumbent Republican Rep. Lance Pruitt who raise $4,000 over the latest fundraising period to sit at $21,480 overall.
- The lone interesting Democratic primary for Fairbanks’ House District 5 has incumbent Rep. Adam Wool out far ahead of Mark Begich-endorsed Taryn Hughes. During the last fundraising period, Wool brought in nearly $10,000 to stand at a total of nearly $37,000 for the race. Hughes brought in $2,323 and stands at nearly $9,000.
- Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake, didn’t report any fundraising during the last reporting period as he heads into a contested primary against Kevin McCabe, who’s been endorsed by both local and state parties. Neuman’s missed much of the last two years due to health issues, which was part of the reason cited in Must Read Alaska’s coverage of the party endorsements of McCabe. Neuman has $3,206 in cash on hand and spent $1,294 on the race while McCabe has spent $31,541 and has $3,700 in cash on hand.
- With no primary opponent or general election opponent, North Pole Republican Rep. Mike Prax is set to have his appointment cemented with an election for the mere cost of getting an employee identification number for his checking account ($277).
APOC Reports
These are the seven-day reports filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission and cover a period running from July 18 through Aug. 8. As with nearly every APOC report, there are some glaring errors in these reports—specifically candidates not carrying over their previous income so their campaign total only reflects what was raised during this period—that we’ve fixed where we caught them.
| Name | District | Party | Total Raised | 7-day Raised | Total Spent | Cash on Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bart LeBon | House 01 | R | $32,201.60 | $10,338.10 | $3,572.76 | $28,628.84 |
| Christopher Quist | House 01 | D | $7,277.06 | $3,074.91 | $3,057.06 | $4,220.00 |
| Bennie Colbert | House 01 | D | $1,738.33 | $1,738.33 | $2,152.64 | -$414.31 |
| Steve Thompson | House 02 | R | $12,900.00 | $2,900.00 | $4,485.17 | $8,414.83 |
| Dave Selle | House 02 | R | $3,277.00 | $725.00 | $1,987.51 | $1,289.49 |
| Jeremiah Youmans | House 02 | D | $785.93 | $50.00 | $276.58 | $509.35 |
| Matt Bagodonuts Wasdyke | House 02 | NA (Pending) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Mike Prax | House 03 | R | $277.00 | $0.00 | $277.00 | $0.00 |
| Grier Hopkins | House 04 | D | $37,612.14 | $8,270.00 | $11,484.81 | $27,374.13 |
| Keith Kurber | House 04 | R | $29,531.50 | $3,067.99 | $5,299.07 | -$2,231.08 |
| Kevin McKinley | House 05 | R | $25,815.70 | $1,630.00 | $15,294.29 | $10,521.41 |
| Adam Wool | House 05 | D | $36,961.46 | $9,740.61 | $9,483.55 | $28,179.11 |
| Taryn M Hughes | House 05 | D | $8,652.58 | $2,323.58 | $3,265.92 | $5,386.66 |
| Mike Cronk | House 06 | R | $14,266.75 | $4,075.34 | $10,646.96 | $3,619.79 |
| Elijah Verhagen | House 06 | U (Certified) | $8,620.88 | $4,351.77 | $6,779.88 | $1,841.00 |
| Julie Morris | House 06 | R | $6,311.98 | $250.00 | $4,141.55 | $2,170.43 |
| Julia Hnilicka | House 06 | D | $32,293.36 | $3,869.57 | $3,273.54 | $596.03 |
| Ryan O Smith | House 06 | R | $2,186.95 | $2,000.00 | $1,373.70 | $813.25 |
| Lynn Gattis | House 07 | R | $17,035.00 | $2,005.00 | $12,683.30 | $4,351.70 |
| Christopher Kurka | House 07 | R | $19,501.95 | $2,846.00 | $9,942.44 | $9,199.51 |
| Thomas Lamb | House 07 | NP (Withdrawn) | $1,005.00 | $129.00 | $1,005.00 | $0.00 |
| Jamin L. Burton | House 07 | U (Certified) | $7,003.00 | $0.00 | $828.35 | $6,174.65 |
| Kevin McCabe | House 08 | R | $35,310.07 | $1,095.38 | $31,541.17 | $3,768.90 |
| Mark Neuman | House 08 | R | $2,500.79 | $0.00 | $1,294.21 | $3,206.58 |
| Alma Hartley | House 08 | D | $600.00 | $600.00 | $376.71 | $223.29 |
| Bill Fikes | House 08 | NA (Pending) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| George Rauscher | House 09 | R | $18,076.44 | $7,916.06 | $16,098.76 | $1,977.60 |
| LD Howard | House 09 | R | $17,782.88 | $1,709.42 | $14,033.57 | $3,749.31 |
| Bill Johnson | House 09 | D | $15,290.00 | $7,095.00 | $5,341.36 | $11,662.14 |
| Jesse Sumner | House 10 | R | $91,954.83 | $9,937.89 | $81,006.49 | $10,948.34 |
| David Eastman | House 10 | R | $33,384.43 | $7,637.00 | $14,897.37 | $18,487.06 |
| Monica Lynn Stein-Olson | House 10 | D | $9,347.03 | $1,375.00 | $2,725.30 | $6,621.73 |
| Patricia Faye-Brazel | House 10 | NP (Pending) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $148.34 | $574.59 |
| DeLena M Johnson | House 11 | R | $13,745.09 | $80.22 | $6,474.82 | $7,319.28 |
| Alex Fetta | House 11 | R | $1,313.81 | $1,028.81 | $1,313.81 | $0.00 |
| Andrea Hackbarth | House 11 | D | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Cathy L. Tilton | House 12 | R | $18,047.00 | $3,850.00 | $4,402.83 | $15,144.17 |
| Sharon Jackson | House 13 | R | $28,730.01 | $1,750.00 | $15,879.42 | $12,850.59 |
| Ken McCarty | House 13 | R | $2,825.00 | $2,825.00 | $2,488.60 | $336.40 |
| James Allen Canitz, Sr | House 13 | D | $10,300.00 | $300.00 | $454.30 | -$154.30 |
| Kelly Merrick | House 14 | R | $37,445.20 | $2,676.40 | $8,815.61 | $33,142.05 |
| Mike Risinger | House 14 | NA (Pending) | $1,910.02 | $100.01 | $883.26 | $1,026.76 |
| Bruce Batten | House 14 | D | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Roger Branson | House 14 | U (Pending) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Gabby LeDoux | House 15 | R | $65,644.00 | $4,700.00 | $41,836.66 | $23,807.34 |
| Lyn Franks | House 15 | D | $16,608.50 | $745.29 | $10,643.52 | $6,182.68 |
| David Nelson | House 15 | R | $7,358.00 | $2,700.00 | $8,993.10 | -$1,635.10 |
| Rick Phillips | House 15 | D | $3,110.00 | $1,720.00 | $2,432.72 | $677.28 |
| Patrick McCormack | House 15 | D | $1,241.87 | $134.92 | $1,241.87 | $279.51 |
| Ivy A Spohnholz | House 16 | D | $39,165.00 | $20,385.00 | $13,882.70 | $25,610.10 |
| Scott A Kohlhaas | House 16 | L | $1,600.00 | $600.00 | $653.90 | $946.10 |
| Paul Bauer | House 16 | R | $384.90 | $138.54 | $384.90 | $0.00 |
| David Walker | House 16 | R | $5,000.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $5,000.00 |
| Andy Josephson | House 17 | D | $18,957.41 | $1,190.00 | $5,285.23 | $16,230.31 |
| Harriet A. Drummond | House 18 | D | $10,480.00 | $55.00 | $3,291.13 | $12,188.87 |
| Geran Tarr | House 19 | D | $8,010.45 | $0.00 | $2,844.91 | $5,165.54 |
| William Z "Zack" Fields | House 20 | D | $1,250.00 | $1,250.00 | $802.13 | $9,882.67 |
| Matt Claman | House 21 | D | $72,695.08 | $9,905.00 | $18,565.09 | $56,612.83 |
| Lynette Largent | House 21 | R | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Stephen Trimble | House 22 | NA (Pending) | $21,120.86 | $1,225.46 | $17,118.29 | $4,002.57 |
| Sara Rasmussen | House 22 | R | $60,394.00 | $4,334.00 | $11,264.48 | $49,129.52 |
| David Nees | House 22 | AI | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Kathy Henslee | House 23 | R | $13,280.01 | $4,600.00 | $6,493.27 | $6,786.74 |
| Connie Dougherty | House 23 | R | $9,462.49 | $5,041.00 | $3,899.20 | $5,624.62 |
| Chris Tuck | House 23 | D | $9,552.93 | $10.82 | $2,511.07 | $7,041.86 |
| Timothy R. Huit | House 23 | AI | $551.02 | $175.00 | $551.02 | $0.00 |
| Chuck Kopp | House 24 | R | $68,958.68 | $12,820.00 | $53,554.99 | $16,430.05 |
| Tom McKay | House 24 | R | $36,614.70 | $12,841.00 | $26,335.19 | $10,284.51 |
| Gloria Susan Levi | House 24 | D | $1,612.29 | $1,612.29 | $20.00 | $1,592.29 |
| Calvin Schrage | House 25 | NP-D | $46,900.35 | $9,177.34 | $29,688.30 | $17,212.05 |
| Janice L Park | House 25 | D | $29,835.86 | $1,908.80 | $20,641.25 | $9,530.91 |
| Mel Gillis | House 25 | R | $63,242.49 | $2,457.50 | $15,671.31 | $47,571.18 |
| Laddie Shaw | House 26 | R | $29,845.28 | $1.41 | $1,750.30 | $33,094.98 |
| Liz Snyder | House 27 | D | $121,071.20 | $6,203.27 | $64,048.93 | $61,235.60 |
| Lance Pruitt | House 27 | R | $21,428.07 | $4,071.58 | $3,650.06 | $18,323.31 |
| Jennifer Johnston | House 28 | R | $43,802.18 | $5,625.00 | $19,274.14 | $29,528.04 |
| James Kaufman | House 28 | R | $30,913.13 | $10,191.00 | $12,790.06 | $18,123.07 |
| Adam S. Lees | House 28 | D | $2,338.00 | $401.00 | $1,461.41 | $876.59 |
| Benjamin Fletcher | House 28 | NA (Certified) | $50.00 | $50.00 | $801.62 | -$751.62 |
| Ross P. Bieling | House 28 | NA (Pending) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| L. Adolph Garcia | House 28 | NA (Certified) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Paul D. Dale | House 29 | NP (Certified) | $20,145.00 | $2,650.00 | $16,708.00 | $3,437.00 |
| Ben Carpenter | House 29 | R | $6,159.55 | $2,625.00 | $534.94 | $6,154.98 |
| Gary Knopp | House 30 | R | $36,079.66 | $11,549.00 | $23,391.13 | $17,688.53 |
| Ronald Dale Gillham | House 30 | R | $15,976.00 | $5,876.00 | $14,335.65 | $3,559.55 |
| James Baisden | House 30 | NA (Certified) | $11,265.86 | $900.00 | $6,447.75 | $4,818.11 |
| Kelly Wolf | House 30 | R | $1,899.70 | $1,299.70 | $2,922.57 | -$1,022.87 |
| Kelly Cooper | House 31 | NA (Certified) | $59,424.93 | $12,638.17 | $33,035.32 | $26,389.61 |
| Sarah L. Vance | House 31 | R | $40,821.60 | $3,175.00 | $6,312.36 | $34,509.24 |
| Louise B Stutes | House 32 | R | $15,518.33 | $500.00 | $1,179.16 | $14,339.17 |
| Sara Hannan | House 33 | D | $12,834.48 | $25.00 | $2,767.25 | $13,274.94 |
| Andi Story | House 34 | D | $35,242.04 | $3,050.00 | $6,929.13 | $28,312.91 |
| Edward King | House 34 | NP (Certified) | $851.79 | $851.79 | $105.04 | $746.75 |
| Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins | House 35 | D | $49,385.09 | $11,680.00 | $16,147.08 | $34,933.73 |
| Kenny Skaflestad | House 35 | R | $800.00 | $800.00 | $0.00 | $800.00 |
| Arthur S Martin | House 35 | R | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Dan Ortiz | House 36 | U (Certified) | $33,255.85 | $9,658.20 | $23,269.53 | $12,486.32 |
| Leslie Becker | House 36 | R | $40,787.08 | $5,375.00 | $16,394.24 | $21,838.34 |
| Bryce Edgmon | House 37 | U-D | $14,805.00 | $500.00 | $168.30 | $19,278.00 |
| Tiffany Zulkosky | House 38 | D | $11,500.00 | $2,800.00 | $388.51 | $16,111.49 |
| Neal Foster | House 39 | D | $6,258.00 | $1,408.00 | $11,166.88 | $91.12 |
| Dan Holmes | House 39 | R | $1,325.00 | $1,325.00 | $525.43 | $1,030.28 |
| Tyler L Ivanoff | House 39 | D | $49.00 | $49.00 | $0.00 | $49.00 |
| Elizabeth Ferguson | House 40 | D | $16,280.80 | $1,720.80 | $8,147.32 | $7,560.46 |
| Ely G Cyrus | House 40 | NA (Withdrawan) | $2,315.55 | $0.00 | $1,772.35 | $543.20 |
| Josiah Aullaqsruaq Patkotak | House 40 | NA (Pending) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Marna Sanford | Senate B | NA (Certified) | $48,031.71 | $10,053.02 | $22,667.98 | $25,363.73 |
| John Coghill | Senate B | R | $46,950.96 | $15,365.97 | $13,168.19 | $32,867.74 |
| Robert H Myers Jr | Senate B | R | $6,849.95 | $2,390.00 | $5,712.69 | $1,137.26 |
| Evan A Eads | Senate B | NA (Certified) | $7,269.60 | $6,570.00 | $5,572.69 | $1,696.91 |
| David S. Wilson | Senate D | R | $18,783.45 | $3,440.00 | $13,198.96 | $10,593.14 |
| Dan Mayfield | Senate D | NP (Certified) | $21,653.32 | $2,002.00 | $8,706.11 | $15,272.03 |
| Bernadette “Bee” Rupright | Senate D | R | $5,445.00 | $2,025.00 | $3,925.46 | $1,519.54 |
| Loy Thurman "Santa" | Senate D | R | $3,986.29 | $1,140.00 | $3,453.98 | $532.31 |
| Stephen Wright | Senate D | R | $5,196.78 | $1,347.00 | $3,207.57 | $2,046.99 |
| Huhnkie Lee | Senate D | R | $815.00 | $240.00 | $1,471.50 | -$656.50 |
| Chandra McCain-Finch | Senate D | R | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Shelley Hughes | Senate F | R | $26,119.33 | $1,370.86 | $4,229.57 | $21,889.76 |
| Gavin Christiansen | Senate F | L (Pending) | $820.00 | $0.00 | $704.00 | $116.00 |
| Stephany Jeffers | Senate F | U-D | $0.16 | $0.08 | $100.00 | $1,911.93 |
| Bill Wielechowski | Senate H | D | $31,047.72 | $7,685.28 | $8,769.36 | $22,278.36 |
| Madeleine Gaiser | Senate H | R | $7,635.00 | $1,250.00 | $2,998.56 | $4,636.44 |
| Tom Begich | Senate J | D | $45,239.92 | $4,366.11 | $18,190.62 | $27,054.37 |
| Natasha Von Imhof | Senate L | R | $113,033.87 | $9,100.00 | $13,199.57 | $99,834.30 |
| Jeff Landfield | Senate L | NA (Certified) | $14,100.00 | $3,450.00 | $6,984.99 | $7,115.01 |
| Roselynn Cacy | Senate L | D | $5,618.57 | $229.57 | $1,493.57 | $5,788.89 |
| Stephen J. Duplantis | Senate L | R | $1,932.00 | $162.00 | $1,159.16 | $772.84 |
| Josh Revak | Senate M | R | $81,207.00 | $6,100.00 | $52,617.10 | $32,655.52 |
| Andy Holleman | Senate M | NA (Pending) | $8,680.00 | $2,325.00 | $9,491.95 | $4,188.05 |
| Ray Metcalfe | Senate M | R | $2,120.00 | $2,120.00 | $50.00 | $2,070.00 |
| Anita Thorne | Senate M | D | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Harold Borbridge | Senate M | R | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Cathy Giessel | Senate N | R | $105,885.76 | $28,022.48 | $42,946.33 | $72,938.88 |
| Roger Holland | Senate N | R | $40,868.62 | $13,964.42 | $34,767.74 | $6,100.88 |
| Carl Johnson | Senate N | D | $15,620.00 | $1,825.00 | $6,522.11 | $9,097.89 |
| Carolyn "Care" Clift | Senate N | U (Certified) | $9,772.08 | $50.00 | $3,930.94 | $6,678.38 |
| Lynette Moreno Hinz | Senate N | D | $1,053.43 | $98.94 | $2,513.14 | -$1,459.71 |
| Gary Stevens | Senate P | R | $16,900.00 | $2,900.00 | $6,470.33 | $13,429.67 |
| John Robert Cox | Senate P | R | $3,085.00 | $470.00 | $2,144.15 | $940.85 |
| Dr Greg Madden | Senate P | AI | $400.00 | $0.00 | $249.90 | $153.92 |
| Dr Greg Madden | Senate P | AI | $400.00 | $400.00 | $0.00 | $403.82 |
| Bert Stedman | Senate R | R | $20,050.00 | $10,150.00 | $16,982.70 | $3,864.74 |
| Bert Stedman | Senate R | R | $9,900.00 | $4,450.00 | $6,543.39 | $4,154.05 |
| Michael D. Sheldon | Senate R | R | $6,095.00 | $710.00 | $5,021.81 | $1,143.74 |
| Michael D. Sheldon | Senate R | R | $5,485.00 | $5,385.00 | $2,578.45 | $2,906.55 |
| Thomas Ikaaq Baker | Senate T | R | $2,357.00 | $2,357.00 | $1,822.74 | $534.26 |
| Calvin Donald Moto II | Senate T | R | $1,215.00 | $1,215.00 | $1,000.00 | $215.00 |
| Donny Olson | Senate T | D | $9,200.00 | $1,000.00 | $110.00 | $10,735.55 |
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