House candidate Sheldon Prout amends disclosure to describe 2025 advance work for vice president

Kathy C. Simpler, the nonpartisan candidate for the Kodiak-area state House seat, has raised nearly five times as much as her Republican opponent, Sheldon R.J. Prout, and outside groups have so far reported far more spending on her side of the race than on his, according to state campaign filings through early October.

Simpler reported $104,408 in campaign income through Oct. 2, with $34,739 on hand and $12,269 in debt. Prout reported $21,409, with $15,062 on hand and no debt. His latest report shows no new contributions or spending from Aug. 9 to Oct. 2.

Their money comes from different places. About 89% of Prout's came from addresses inside House District 5, by Alaska News' count, compared with about 19% of Simpler's. Prout's largest donors are William Prout, at $10,500, including $2,500 in donated snow crab, and Alta Prout, at $4,000. Simpler's largest is the Alaska House Democratic Campaign Committee, at $18,000, followed by $2,000 each from political committees of the Teamsters, NEA-Alaska and Alaska Laborers Local 341.

The district runs from Kodiak and its villages to Cordova, Tatitlek, Chenega Bay and part of Seward. Rep. Louise Stutes, who holds the seat, is running for the state Senate. Simpler took 61% of the vote to Prout's 39% in the Aug. 18 primary, where they were the only two candidates.

Simpler, 57, says in her election pamphlet statement that she taught in Kodiak public schools for 30 years and has been a director of NEA-Alaska, the teachers union, since 2022. Prout, 27, says in his statement that he was born and raised in Kodiak and is a third-generation commercial fisherman and private pilot. He works as a business development representative for Vasion, and an amended financial disclosure he filed Oct. 13 says his 2025 work for the Office of the Vice President was a seven-day advance-work job.

On Simpler's side, the Putting Alaskans First Committee has reported spending or owing more than $70,000 for her, including $30,000 for Meta ads and $5,000 for Kodiak radio. Nearly 90% of the $948,000 the committee has raised this cycle came from labor unions, led by AFSCME at $350,000 and the NEA Advocacy Fund at $175,000. A group funded by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has reported $30,302 in ads and mail opposing Prout, and The Alaska Center's independent expenditure group has reported about $4,500 for mail and phone banking for Simpler.

On Prout's side, Moving Alaska Forward, whose only reported money is a $250,000 contribution from the Washington-based RSLC Victory Fund, has reported about $18,800 for canvassing, digital and print services and video. Families of the Last Frontier, whose largest donors are the national Republican groups GOPAC, at $150,000, and the Republican State Leadership Committee, at $50,000, has sent mail supporting Prout and other candidates. On Oct. 1, it transferred $75,000 to another group, Families for Alaska's Future, and coded the transfer as support for Prout. As of early Wednesday, that group had not filed a report showing whether it had spent the money or what it bought.

Independent groups cannot legally coordinate with the campaigns they support. The general election is Nov. 3.