Challengers outraise incumbent lawmakers with a month to go before Alaska’s primary election

A Fairbanks Republican looking to unseat a Democratic incumbent had the biggest fundraising haul heading into the final month before Alaska’s August primary election, according to reports submitted earlier this week.

Leslie Hajdukovich, who previously served on the Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board, far surpassed all other candidates, raising over $125,000 since the beginning of February, with more than $106,000 in the bank heading into the final month before the primary.

Alaska’s primary election will take place Aug. 20. Under the voting system adopted by Alaskans in 2020, the top four vote-getters in every primary race advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. The races for all but two of the 50 legislative seats up for election have four or fewer candidates.

Democratic Fairbanks incumbent Sen. Scott Kawasaki, who has served in the Legislature since 2007 and in the Senate since 2019, will face a tough challenge from Hajdukovich. After redistricting occurred in 2021, Kawasaki now represents a district that voted overwhelmingly for former President Donald Trump in 2020.

Kawasaki raised over $43,000 in the reporting period, and had more than $66,000 in his campaign account as of last week. Kawasaki said Hajdukovich’s lead was to be expected because sitting lawmakers cannot fundraise during the legislative session, which ended in mid-May, giving Hajdukovich a lead of several months to fill her campaign coffers.

“It really wasn’t very shocking,” Kawasaki said.

Hajdukovich did not respond to an interview request from the Daily News.

Aside from Hajdukovich, Democrats and left-leaning candidates appeared to have the upper hand in fundraising, particularly in races where they were challenging sitting lawmakers who — like Kawasaki — had only recently turned to fundraising. More than 110 legislative candidates are set to appear on the August ballot, and they collectively raised more than $1.6 million in the reporting period that began in February and ended last week.

Walter Featherly, an independent candidate challenging Republican incumbent Rep. Julie Coulombe to represent an Anchorage district, raised more than $90,000, and had more than $50,000 in the bank at the end of last week. Coulombe raised less than $18,000 and had just over $31,000 remaining in her account.

Denny Wells, a Democrat running to represent a South Anchorage House district currently represented by Republican Rep. Tom McKay, had a fundraising windfall of over $76,000, including a single contribution of $20,000 from Anchorage attorney Robin Brena. With McKay running for state Senate, Wells’ main competition will come from Mia Costello, a Republican former lawmaker who raised just over $10,000.

Many candidates reported receiving four- and five-figure contributions from some campaign donors. That is possible thanks to a court decision from 2021 that invalidated Alaska’s campaign contribution limits, which prior to the decision limited amounts to $500 per candidate per year.

Brena had been a key opponent of those campaign finance limits, arguing previously that without the limits, more of the political spending would go directly to politicians, rather than to independent groups that can impact the results of elections without being affiliated with specific candidates. Brena also gave $10,000 in recent months to independent candidate Nick Moe, who is vying to fill a vacant West Anchorage seat against Democrat Carolyn Hall.

In 2022, lawmakers had worked on a last-minute deal to restore some campaign contribution limits in Alaska. That deal fell through, and when lawmakers reconvened in 2023 and 2024, work on legislation related to election reform, including campaign finance reform, repeatedly stalled. Ultimately, no such legislation passed, allowing unlimited contributions to continue flowing to legislative candidates.

Kawasaki is a proponent of reinstating campaign contribution limits. Kawasaki said the current election cycle has brought “a lot of big-dollar, big-donor checks, and then fewer checks overall.” That means candidates are less likely to turn to donors who may be able to give only $50, he added. Kawasaki, who began his political career in his 20s as a city council member in Fairbanks, said he has always relied on smaller contributions to run his campaigns. Hajdukovich, who is a member of a well-connected family in Fairbanks, could benefit from the higher limits, he said.

“We knew that our opponent was going to have deep pockets,” said Kawasaki.

Recent reports show that even as candidates solicit larger campaign contributions, many still rely heavily on self-financing. At least seven candidates gave their own campaigns $10,000 or more in the recent reporting period. Kawasaki is one of them. He said the funding can function as “a safety” for candidates who face well-funded opponents.

McKay, who raised just under $17,000 in the reporting period — including $5,000 from himself — is running against Democratic incumbent Sen. Matt Claman, who raised nearly $50,000 and had nearly $115,000 in his campaign account heading into the final month before the primary — more than any other candidate. Another Republican candidate for the seat, Liz Vazquez, raised more than $5,500, almost exclusively from herself.

In another Anchorage district, Republican Rep. Craig Johnson is facing a challenge from more moderate Republican former lawmaker Chuck Kopp. Kopp raised more than $21,000 compared with Johnson’s haul of less than $14,000, including $10,000 from Johnson himself.

Anchorage Republican Rep. Stanley Wright is facing a challenge from Democrat Ted Eischeid, who came close to beating Wright in 2022. Eischeid raised close to $50,000, nearly 10 times the amount raised by Wright, who brought in just over $5,000.

In Homer, Republican Rep. Sarah Vance, who raised over $16,000, will face a well-funded challenge from Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly President Brent Johnson, who brought in over $20,000. But Vance still has nearly double the funding remaining in her campaign account heading into the primary, with just over $24,000 compared to Johnson’s $12,500.

Kotzebue Rep. Thomas Baker, who switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent earlier this year after Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed him to fill a vacancy in the Legislature, is facing a tough reelection race. He reported raising just over $1,000. Most of that came from three Republicans serving with Baker in the House — Kevin McCabe of Big Lake, Mike Cronk of Tok and Dan Saddler of Eagle River. Meanwhile, Robyn Burke, an Utqiagvik Democrat challenging Baker for the seat, reported raising just over $25,000.

In several open races, fundraising reports begin to shed light on the candidates with momentum heading into the primary election.

Fairbanks Republican Sen. Click Bishop’s decision not to run for reelection created an open race in a district covering a vast area in the Interior, including parts of Fairbanks. Republican Rep. Cronk of Tok announced earlier this year he planned to run for that seat, and raised nearly $15,000. That is half the amount that current Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Member Savannah Fletcher raised. An independent left-of-center candidate, Fletcher raised close to $30,000. Another Republican in the race, James Squyres, self-funded his campaign with $10,000. Fletcher has a significant funding advantage heading into the primary, with nearly $26,000 compared to Squyres’ $9,000 and Cronk’s sum of less than $6,000.

In an open Southeast House seat created by the planned departure of Ketchikan independent Rep. Dan Ortiz, the leading fundraiser is Republican Jeremy Bynum, who raked in nearly $49,000. He was trailed by two independent left-of-center candidates: Grant Echohawk, who raised nearly $9,000, and Agnes Moran, who raised $16,000, including $5,000 from Moran herself.

In an open South Anchorage House seat created by the retirement of Republican Rep. Laddie Shaw, independent candidate Ky Holland just outraised Republican Lee Ellis. Holland brought in $26,000 to Ellis’ $25,000. Another Republican candidate in the race, Lucy Bauer, self-funded her campaign with $25,000. Republican Brandy Pennington raised $14,000, with $12,500 coming from Pennington.

In the six-way race to fill the open House seat created by Cronk’s decision to run for Senate, the top fundraiser is Pamela Goode, a Republican from Delta Junction who gave her own campaign more than $12,000. Democrat Brandon Kowalski of Fairbanks is second, having raised around $9,600. Republican Rebecca Schwanke of Glennallen raised $9,500. Republican Cole Snodgrass of Fairbanks raised close to $6,300. Another Republican, Dana Mock of Fort Greely, raised just $940. Current State Board of Education Chair James Fields, who is running as a Libertarian, reported no campaign contributions.

Some candidates have already said they will drop out if they underperform in the primary election. Others say that campaigning will ramp up in earnest only after the primary race is over.