Former state legislator Lance Pruitt fined $19,716 for multiple violations of campaign finance and disclosure laws

Alaska’s political campaign regulators have fined former state Rep. Lance Pruitt, an Anchorage Republican, almost $20,000 for multiple violations of state law in his 2016 and 2018 campaigns for the Legislature, and for failing to file proper financial disclosures while in office.

Staff at the Alaska Public Offices Commission had recommended a smaller fine, but in a final report released Monday, commissioners concluded the violations were “widespread and serious,” and doubled the staff recommendation.

The final report said Pruitt didn’t report campaign expenses on time in 2016 and 2018, improperly waited months before repaying himself out of campaign accounts and took an overly large campaign contribution.

Once in office, Pruitt failed to list the clients of an advertising firm operated by his wife, Mary Ann Pruitt, the commission said. Lance Pruitt said he was unable to obtain the list.

At the time, Mary Ann Pruitt was employed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy as his communications director and disclosing that list on a separate form she filed. The separate form, unlike Pruitt’s disclosure, wasn’t generally public.

The commission concluded that Pruitt’s failure to disclose was a particular problem “because some of Ms. Pruitt’s clients may have advocated before the Legislature,” and the intent of the disclosure law is to assure the public that legislators do not have conflicts of interest.

Pruitt defended himself in a public hearing earlier this year, but commissioners said his testimony “was unconvincing and appeared to be self-serving — at best, his reporting and attempted compliance with the law was haphazard, at worst, he engaged in deliberate non-reporting.”

On Thursday morning, Pruitt said he hasn’t decided whether he will appeal the fine to a state court. He has 30 days to do so.

“Any errors were unintentional and strictly administrative,” he said by text message. “In hindsight, I wish I would’ve hired someone to do my reports instead of trying to balance that and a campaign by myself.”

Democrat Liz Snyder defeated Pruitt by 11 votes in the 2020 election for an East Anchorage House seat. During that campaign, political consultant Paula DeLaiarro filed the complaint that led to Thursday’s fine.

DeLaiarro normally works with Democratic and moderate Republican political campaigns, helping them with their campaign finance reporting. She didn’t work on either side of the Pruitt-Snyder race, but she lives in the district.

She said she’s satisfied with the result of her complaint.

“I don’t file frivolous complaints, and this one was far from frivolous,” she said.