Campaign Finance
RSSCampaign finance in Alaska is the system of rules and disclosures that governs how candidates, parties and outside groups raise and spend election money. It covers APOC and FEC filings, PAC and super PAC spending, independent expenditures and donor disclosure in state and federal races.
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Anonymous texts push Eric Hafner, but no group has reported spending to support him
Two groups backing Bill Hill reported more than $100,000 in spending against Eric Hafner in the last week of October, federal filings show. No group has reported spending to support him.
But on Wednesday evening, Alaskans received text messages urging Democrats to vote for Hafner. The texts didn't say who sent them.
The message came with a graphic reading "Vote Democrat." It opened with "!!Breaking News!!" and said Hill "refuses to commit to caucusing with Democrats, leaving the door open to joining the MAGA Republicans in Congress."
"Thankfully, Alaska Democrats have a real choice: Eric Hafner," it said. It ended, "Don't throw your vote away: Vote Democrat, Vote Hafner."
Hill, who is running as a nonpartisan, declined in July to say whether he would caucus with Democrats or Republicans, saying his loyalty is to Alaskans.
Hafner, the only candidate on the Nov. 3 ballot listed as a Democrat, is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence in New York. The text doesn't mention that.
Under ranked-choice voting, a ballot that ranks only Hafner stops counting once he is eliminated. In 2024, when he was the first candidate out, more than a third of his 3,558 ballots had no next choice and dropped out of the count.
A screenshot of the text posted to Reddit's r/alaska forum under the title "Please don't fall for this" drew dozens of comments.
A similar unsigned text went out before the August primary, saying Hafner "stands with Bernie Sanders" and "will stop Trump," as reported by the Anchorage Daily News.
Federal filings don't show who paid for the texts. Every report of independent spending through Nov. 1 that names Eric Hafner lists money spent against him, more than $560,000 in all, from the same two groups: Wheel Dog PAC and CFFE PAC.
Those groups have told voters Republicans are behind Hafner. Wheel Dog's ads call him a "fake Dem" and a "Republican plant," according to Meta's Ad Library, and a CFFE ad says "Washington Republicans had backed Hafner."
In 2024, when the Alaska Democratic Party sued to keep Hafner off the ballot, the Alaska Republican Party joined the case on the side of the state elections division, which defended listing him.
Hafner's own campaign hasn't reported raising or spending any money.
What the records show
Three groups reported paying for text messages sent in the House race Wednesday, according to Federal Election Commission filings. None of those filings names Hafner, and none says what the messages said.
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