Independent groups report spending more than the candidates raised in Kodiak's House race

Kodiak-area voters choose a new state House member Tuesday, in a race where independent groups have reported spending more than the two candidates raised.

Groups reported about $316,000 in spending for or against Kathy Simpler and Sheldon R.J. Prout through Nov. 2, by Alaska News' count of state filings. With the candidates' own money, the race totals about $473,000, the most of any legislative race in Alaska this year, according to our statewide breakdown.

House District 5 runs from Kodiak and its villages to Cordova, Tatitlek, Chenega Bay and part of Seward. The seat is open because Rep. Louise Stutes is running for state Senate.

Simpler, 57, a nonpartisan, taught in Kodiak public schools for 30 years and has been a director of NEA-Alaska, the teachers union, since 2022. She grew up in a commercial fishing family in Cordova, according to her election pamphlet statement. "This is a true working-class district," she wrote.

Prout, 27, a Republican, 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 says his 2025 work for the Office of the Vice President was a seven-day advance job. "Alaska's fisheries are the lifeblood of our economy, culture, and way of life," he wrote in his statement.

Their priorities overlap. Both list fisheries, ferry service and schools. Simpler took 61% of the vote to Prout's 39% in the August primary, where they were the only two candidates.

The money behind them looks very different. Simpler reported $135,889 in campaign income. Prout reported $21,409, about a sixth as much. His report covering Aug. 9 to Oct. 2 showed no new contributions.

Most of Prout's money is local. Through early October, about 89% came from addresses inside the district, compared with about 19% of Simpler's, by Alaska News' count. His largest donors were William Prout, at $10,500, including $2,500 in donated snow crab, and Alta Prout, at $4,000. Simpler's largest was 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.

Most of the independent groups get their money from unions or national Democratic and Republican groups. None of their money goes to the campaigns, and they can't legally coordinate their spending with them.

On Simpler's side, the Putting Alaskans First Committee, run by Alaska AFL-CIO officials, had reported spending or owing more than $70,000 for her by mid-October, including $30,000 for Meta ads and $5,000 for Kodiak radio. Nearly 90% of the $948,000 it had raised this cycle came from unions, led by AFSCME at $350,000 and the NEA's advocacy fund at $175,000.

American Leadership Committee-Alaska, a group funded by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, had reported $30,302 in ads and mail opposing Prout by mid-October. Prout was one of five Republicans it opposed, all in the six most expensive state House races this year. The Alaska Center's independent expenditure group had reported about $4,500 for mail and phone banking for Simpler.

On Prout's side, Moving Alaska Forward, whose only reported money as of mid-October was $250,000 from the Washington-based RSLC Victory Fund, had reported about $18,800 for canvassing, digital and print services and video. Families of the Last Frontier, an Anchorage group whose largest donors are the national Republican groups GOPAC and the Republican State Leadership Committee, sent mail supporting Prout and other candidates.

On Oct. 1, Families of the Last Frontier transferred $75,000 to another group, Families for Alaska's Future, and listed it as support for Prout, according to its report. The same report shows $10,000 contributions that day from its deputy treasurer, Randy Ruedrich, a former longtime chair of the Alaska Republican Party, and from Jim Jansen, who lists his employer as Lynden Inc.

Kodiak voters also have the most expensive state Senate race on their ballots. Stutes is running for Senate District C, which drew about $272,000.

The totals combine campaign income and independent spending reported to the Alaska Public Offices Commission through Nov. 2. Some independent spending is reported as estimates or debts, and late or amended filings could change the figures.