New independent expenditure group registers in Anchorage to back Nellie Jimmie's re-election

A new independent expenditure group registered Thursday to back Rep. Nellie Unangiq Jimmie's re-election, and its chair is the general counsel of the Alaska Native regional corporation for the region she represents.

Friends of Nellie Jimmie filed a group registration form with the Alaska Public Offices Commission naming the 2026 state general election, and stated that more than a third of its total spending will go to Jimmie's candidacy. It lists no deputy treasurers and no co-chairs, and says it has not registered with the commission before.

Walter Featherly is listed as chair. He serves as general counsel for Calista Corporation, the regional corporation for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Jimmie, a Democrat from Toksook Bay, represents House District 38, which lies in that region, and sits on the House Finance Committee. Amber Lee, who runs the Anchorage firm Amber Lee Strategies, submitted the form as treasurer.

Nothing in the filing suggests anything improper. Independent expenditure groups may raise and spend without limit, but commission training materials say their spending has to happen without direct or indirect consultation or cooperation with the candidate or the campaign. That is the difference between this kind of group and a candidate committee.

The timing matters for how much money can move. Alaska has had no individual-to-candidate contribution limits since the Ninth Circuit's 2021 ruling in Thompson v. Hebdon, and group-to-candidate giving is still capped at $1,000 a year. Restored contribution limits take effect in January 2027, after this election.

What the public learns depends on what the group raises. If it receives a contribution over $2,000, it has 24 hours to identify the true source, a requirement drawn from the voter-approved disclosure law Alaskans adopted to expose who is behind outside election spending.