Ethics panel finds probable cause in Rep. Vance Homer News complaints

After Representative Sarah Vance sent a letter on official state letterhead to the owner of the Homer News, the paper pulled the article, revised it, stripped the original reporter's byline, and deleted language Vance had flagged as objectionable. On Friday, the House Subcommittee on the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics found probable cause that Vance violated Alaska's legislative ethics statute by using official state resources to pressure the paper, advancing 18 complaints toward a full committee hearing that will decide whether a violation actually occurred.

The probable cause finding is a threshold determination, not a verdict. The subcommittee concluded the evidence, if proven, would constitute a violation of AS 24.60.030(a)(2), which bars legislators from using public funds, facilities, equipment, services, or other government assets for nonlegislative or partisan political purposes. The case proceeds under AS 24.60.170, the Legislative Ethics Act investigation rules. The committee has no jurisdiction over constitutional issues and only limited jurisdiction over campaign activity, focusing on the prohibition on state-resource use under AS 24.60.030(a)(2) and (5).

The chair summarized the allegations before the subcommittee entered executive session. Vance sent the letter to Carpenter Media Group, owner of the Homer News, after the paper published an article about a vigil held in Homer following the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The letter expressed displeasure with the article's content, described what Vance characterized as bias, and warned of a growing advertiser boycott movement. It urged the company to review its editorial standards and the reporter's body of work. Carpenter Media Group removed the article from its website, revised it, stripped the original reporter's byline, and deleted language Vance had identified as objectionable. Vance then posted the letter on her official Facebook page and posted additional comments thanking the company after it made the changes.

Vance declined to participate further in the proceedings. In a February 10 email to committee administrator Kevin Reeve, she wrote that the committee had before it all the information necessary to rule on her dismissal request. "Even taking the allegations as true for purposes of the review, none rise to the level of a violation of Alaska's legislative ethics statute," she said. She added that dismissal was appropriate on the face of the complaints.

Vance argued in a January 28 email to a local publication that she was acting within her legislative duties. "I believe I was acting within the bounds of my legislative duties by writing a letter to Sound Publishing regarding an article written by Homer News," she said, according to the Homer Independent Press.

How This Case Differs From a Prior Complaint

The current case differs from a prior complaint. In October 2022, the House Subcommittee dismissed complaint H 22-03 against Vance, finding that the allegations, even if proven, did not constitute a violation of the Legislative Ethics Act because no state resources were involved. The current complaints allege , which the subcommittee determined was enough to proceed.