It costs far too much to run a political campaign in this country and, sadly, Alaska is no exception. Donors contributed more than twice as much money to candidates in the race for U.S. Senate in Alaska in 2020 than bidders were willing to pay just a few months later for the long-sought oil and gas leases on a million acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
That’s a commentary both on the failure of the ANWR oil-drilling dream to punch holes in the tundra and that political donors are willing to pour so much money down a campaign hole.
Campaign contributions in that race between incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and challenger Democrat Mark Begich totaled about $30 million, and that’s not counting the millions more that went to political committees supposedly not associated with the two candidates.
The money raised by the candidates alone works out to almost $90 for every vote cast for the two opponents.
Of course, people, and companies, are free to spend whatever they want to help elect, or defeat, the candidates of their choice. Whether it’s fair is not the issue — it’s their right, and it’s how the system works.
Voters, however, should pay attention to where all that money comes from and who is spending millions of dollars and why. The source of campaign contributions says a lot about a candidate, whether they are playing to the hometown crowd or whether they are pandering and posturing for out-of-state fame and fortune. The checks all cash the same, but they are not necessarily of the same benefit to Alaskans.
Not surprisingly, former Gov. Sarah Palin, who quit the job for the lights, cameras and action of the national political stage more than a dozen years ago, wants back into Alaska politics. She is running in Saturday’s primary election to fill the U.S. House seat held by the late Don Young. Equally not surprising, the vast majority of Palin’s reported campaign contributions are coming from outside the state, where she has worked to maintain a fan base over the years.
As of the most recent filings with the Federal Elections Commission, Palin itemized $195,000 in donations of at least $200 each — the threshold for reporting the donors’ names — with about $23,000, less than 12%, from Alaskans and $172,000 from Outside contributors.
Counting smaller donations that do not have to be itemized by name, Palin’s $630,000 fundraising total leads all candidates in the primary.
It’s not that collecting money from Outside contributors is bad, but it does say something about a candidate’s support among Alaskans when such a high percentage of the cash comes from non-residents. Maybe it tells voters that the candidate has support among a lot of people. Or maybe it says the candidate just doesn’t have all that much support in Alaska.
-- Wrangell Sentinel
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