Ethan Berkowitz raised the most money among the candidates running for the Democratic nomination for governor. Berkowitz brought in more than $128,000, including $10,295 from himself, and reported that he had almost $109,000 remaining in the bank as of Jan. 31. Berkowitz's supporters included labor unions and several well-known Alaska attorneys.
Tuesday was the state's deadline for candidates to report how much they've raised and spent through Jan. 31, in advance of the August primary election.
Parnell brought in the most campaign cash of any of the candidates -- more than $215,000 -- while Samuels raised $178,584. But Parnell has had about twice as long to collect contributions as Samuels, who didn't get in the race until Dec. 8. Parnell also spent more on his campaign, and his $125,175 remaining in the bank is a few thousand less than the Samuels campaign is expected to report in its accounts.
The deadline to file reports wasn't until midnight and lists of who contributed to all the campaigns and how they spent their money were not available Tuesday evening. But Samuels' fundraisers have included major players in business, such as Northrim Bank chairman Marc Langland; Chuck Spinelli, owner of Spinell Homes; and John Shively, chief executive of the group seeking to develop the Pebble mine project. There's also been a high turnout of Republican legislators. Samuels is a former state House majority leader.
The Parnell campaign expressed no worries about Samuels' push, saying the governor received contributions from more than 700 people since filing for office Oct. 14 and "looks forward to enjoying more of that support through the coming campaign."
Walker also built up a strong campaign war chest to pursue the Republican nomination. Walker put $110,000 of his own money into the effort and raised almost the same amount from contributors.
Walker reported $102,087 in the bank after debts as of Jan. 31, almost as much as Parnell and Samuels.
Walker's contributors included the laborers union, the Teamsters, former Gov. Wally Hickel and members of the Hickel clan. Hickel and Walker both promote the idea of an "all-Alaska" natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to Valdez.
A fourth Republican gubernatorial candidate, Gerald Heikes, reported only $880 in campaign income.
Among the candidates in the Democratic primary, Hollis French came in second to Berkowitz in the amount of campaign contributions. French raised $101,381 and ended with $65,743 in the bank after the debts and expenses of his campaign.
French, a state senator, is forbidden by law from raising any more money until the legislative session concludes April 18. Berkowitz, a former state House minority leader, is out of the Legislature and can continue to collect campaign cash. So can Bob Poe, who said he raised $88,574 for his campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor. Poe said that money came from about 330 contributors.
Poe spent $77,560 of that and reports that he had $11,014 remaining in the bank. It is the first campaign Poe has run, and he said he had to build up his organization.
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