Kreiss-Tomkins leads governor money race as outside groups raise $3.15 million

Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins raised $2.1 million from Aug. 9 through Oct. 2, nearly as much as his campaign raised in the entire cycle before that, according to reports the four governor tickets printed on Alaska's general-election ballot filed Monday with the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

His campaign reported $4.28 million raised over the whole campaign and $1.2 million in cash on Oct. 2, more than three times the combined cash of his three Republican opponents, Bernadette Wilson, Treg Taylor and Dave Bronson. His campaign spent $1.21 million in the period and reported $96,142 in debt.

The new reports cover a period that began nine days before the Aug. 18 primary. During those nine days, large contributions had to be disclosed within 24 hours, so some of this money was already public before the primary. Those contributions also appear in these reports and are counted once.

Cash on hand is what each campaign had going into the final month, though debts and committed spending can reduce how much of it is available.

Where the money comes from

Kreiss-Tomkins and Wilson raised most of their campaign money from outside Alaska, an Alaska News analysis of contributor addresses in the filings found. About 75% of Wilson's money over the whole campaign came from outside the state, and about 72% of Kreiss-Tomkins'. Taylor and Bronson drew more than 90% of their money from Alaska.

Through Aug. 8, about 20% of Kreiss-Tomkins' money came from Alaska addresses, while his filings listed approximately 1,781 normalized Alaska contributor names, close to the campaign's own count of 1,775 Alaska donors at the time. In the latest period, Alaska addresses supplied about 38% of his money, across approximately 2,286 normalized contributor names.

Those name counts are approximate, since they can include organizations, spelling variations or two people with the same name.

In the latest period, about 85% of Wilson's money came from outside Alaska.

The largest donors

Seven donors supplied about a third of Kreiss-Tomkins' money in the latest period:

• Jonathan Rubini, chairman and CEO of Anchorage-based JL Properties, gave $110,000.

• Arron Kallenberg, founder of Wild Alaskan Company, gave $100,000. The seafood company's own website lists "Protecting Bristol Bay" among its issues and calls the proposed Pebble mine "the wrong mine in the wrong place."

• Nicholas Josefowitz gave $100,000. He leads Permit Power, a nonprofit that advocates streamlined permitting for rooftop solar and home batteries.

• Roger Perlmutter, CEO of Eikon Therapeutics, and Gwendolyn Sontheim, a philanthropist, gave $100,000 each.

• Claire Zabel, a managing director at Coefficient Giving, the philanthropy formerly known as Open Philanthropy, gave $90,000. She leads its AI Short Timelines Special Projects team, and the organization says its AI fund aims to ensure "AI is safe and well-governed."

• Johannes Treutlein, a research scientist at Rethink Priorities, which does research in areas including AI governance, also gave $90,000.

Wilson's five largest sources supplied about 40% of her money in the latest period:

• Chance Jones, through the Chandler Jones Trust, gave $50,000.

• Michael Parker, board chair of Narwhal Exploration, gave $50,000. The company applied to the state Department of Natural Resources in September to drill up to three exploration wells in West Harrison Bay, according to a state public notice.

• Jim Dondero, CEO of NexPoint, gave $25,000, and his personal trust gave $25,000.

• Brian Sidman of BAS Holdings Investments gave $40,000.

• Anthony Marnell III gave $20,000. His company's website says its gaming management arm is working with the Native Village of Eklutna to develop and manage the first tribal casino in the Anchorage area.

Three people supplied 87% of Taylor's money in the latest period: his running mate, Candi English, who gave $101,196; John Morris, an anesthesiologist at Alaska Regional Medical Center, who gave $93,000; and Taylor himself, who gave $40,000. His campaign spent $266,967 in the period, nearly all it raised. Over the whole campaign, Taylor has raised the second-most of any candidate.

Bronson raised $57,184 and spent $63,784 during the period. He reported $28,189 in cash and $21,500 in outstanding debts on Oct. 2, leaving his cash about $6,689 above his reported debt. His largest new contributors were William Vivlamore of Vivlamore Companies, at $10,000, and pharmacist Paul Gionet, at $7,500.

Outside groups

Independent groups, which are legally separate from the campaigns, have raised $3.15 million more.

Forward Frontier for JKT, a group supporting Kreiss-Tomkins, reported $1.55 million in contributions and $1.28 million in media and digital advertising through Oct. 2. Democratic Action, which the Democratic Governors Association describes as a DGA-backed group, supplied $1.45 million: $800,000 directly and $650,000 routed through the DGA, whose own report shows it received $650,000 from Democratic Action on Sept. 25 and gave the same amount to Forward Frontier that day. The union AFSCME contributed the remaining $100,000.

On the Republican side, the Republican Governors Association gave $1.6 million to Kodiak PAC on Sept. 30. Kodiak PAC's report listed all $1.6 million as cash and no spending through Oct. 2, and APOC's independent-expenditure records showed no Kodiak PAC spending report as of Oct. 6.

The next regular reports are due Oct. 27 and cover Oct. 3 through Oct. 24. After that, contributions of more than $250 from a single source must be reported within 24 hours until the Nov. 3 election.