State pays for Facebook and Instagram ads promoting Alaska's record under Dunleavy

The State of Alaska has been paying since Sept. 1 for Facebook and Instagram ads promoting the state's record under Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

Ads, labeled "Paid for by State of Alaska," were running from the governor's Facebook page as of Saturday, according to Meta's ad library. Meta's figures put the spending so far at roughly $4,100 to $5,500.

The ads are running in the weeks before the Nov. 3 election, when voters will choose Dunleavy's successor, all 40 state House seats and half the state Senate. Dunleavy is term-limited and not on the ballot, and the ads do not mention any candidate.

The ads link to "A Better Alaska," a section of the governor's website published Aug. 20. "Alaska has changed since 2018," the site says. "Not every headline mentions it. Here's the record."

The ads say property crime has fallen 48% since 2018, though an image in one ad puts the drop at 43%. They also say the sexual assault rate is the lowest since 2014 and the violent crime rate the lowest since 2015. The website cites a 37% drop in the overall reported crime rate, from 4,215.2 offenses per 100,000 residents in 2018 to 2,638.3 in 2025.

Other images feature the Willow and Pikka oil projects, rural broadband, the Port of Alaska and "54 new F-35s" at Eielson Air Force Base. The last of those fighter jets arrived in April 2022, according to the Air Force.