A pro-Republican group discloses small ad debts for two House candidates, listing the creditor at its treasurer's address

A group formed to elect Republicans to the Alaska Legislature disclosed $728.28 in Meta advertising debts backing two GOP state House candidates in a report filed four days before the primary — and listed the company it owes the money to at the same Ketchikan address its treasurer gives as his own.

The Alaska Leadership Initiative filed the 24-hour independent expenditure report with the Alaska Public Offices Commission on Aug. 14. The report shows no cash raised and no expenditures paid out for the period; the debts appear on the report's schedule for obligations the group has incurred but not yet paid, which such reports are meant to capture. Disclosing an estimated debt of this kind is a routine part of campaign finance reporting, not in itself an irregularity.

The two debts, each $364.14 and dated Aug. 13, carry identical descriptions from Executive Director and Treasurer Trevor Alexander Shaw: an estimated $50 for graphic design and $314.14 for a Meta digital ad placement running through Aug. 18, the day of the primary. One supports John C. Boyle, a certified Republican candidate in Anchorage's House District 9; the other supports Sheldon R.J. Prout, a certified Republican in Kodiak's District 5, several hundred miles away. Both are marked as supporting, not opposing, the candidates.

The sums are small next to the campaigns' own finances. Boyle's most recent report showed about $30,600 raised and $6,900 spent; Prout's showed about $21,400 raised and $6,300 spent. Neither campaign's filing shows a matching payment to or from the group — which is expected, since an independent expenditure group by law operates separately from the campaigns it supports.

The detail that stands out is the creditor. Both entries list the company owed, Gray Lantern Holdings, LLC, at 1225 Tongass Avenue in Ketchikan. On the same form, Shaw gives 1225 Tongass Avenue as his own address and lists himself as self-employed. What business relationship, if any, exists between Shaw and Gray Lantern Holdings is not stated in the filing, and the commission's expenditure database shows no completed payment to the company by any filer. A shared address can reflect a common commercial building rather than a common owner, and the record does not establish which.

The group registered March 6 with a one-line purpose, "To elect Republicans to the Alaska Legislature," naming Steven Johnson as chair and Shaw as treasurer at a Palmer mailing address. This is its only independent expenditure report since, and it has disclosed no money coming in; Alaska sets no cap on contributions to independent expenditure groups.

The filing is the only account available. Neither Shaw, the two campaigns, nor anyone connected to Gray Lantern Holdings is quoted in it, and it does not say whether the ads ran or who owns the company.