Politics

Business-backed groups pour cash into efforts to unseat Republican moderates in Alaska House

Two business-backed political groups reported Thursday they are pouring more than $45,000 into efforts to boost the campaigns of Republicans challenging a pair of moderate GOP incumbents in the Alaska House.

The two groups are supporting Homer Mayor Beth Wythe, who's running against Homer Rep. Paul Seaton, and George Rauscher of Sutton, who's facing Palmer Rep. Jim Colver.

"Wythe is Right! Seaton Must Be Beaten" and "Conservatives for George Rauscher" are both independent expenditure groups — Alaska's version of the federal super PACs that can raise unlimited money from corporations, unions, and individuals as long as they don't coordinate with candidates.

Each group last week received $15,000 from the Accountability Project, according to their reports filed Thursday.

The Accountability Project is itself an independent expenditure group that reported $20,000 in donations in June and July from transportation company Lynden and its chairman, Jim Jansen.

That group is headquartered at the Midtown Anchorage offices of Advance Supply Chain Integrators, a logistics company whose clients have included oil companies BP and ConocoPhillips.

The logistics company's president, Scott Hawkins, serves as treasurer for the project and the pro-Wythe and Rauscher groups.

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Hawkins didn't respond to a phone message Thursday. But he said last week that the groups' political efforts aim to keep the Alaska House from changing from its current Republican-led majority to a bipartisan coalition led by Democrats.

The Wythe and Rauscher groups reported Thursday each has spent more than $22,000 — in direct spending and incurred debts — on ad campaigns supporting the two challengers, including mailers, online and radio ads and research.

The money spent by the Wythe group on her behalf exceeds the $21,000 she's reported raising this year for her own campaign. Rauscher has raised $37,000.

Union-backed independent expenditure groups this year have spent a combined $41,000 supporting candidates in four different races.

Colver is one beneficiary; others include independent candidate Jason Grenn, who's running for an Anchorage House seat currently occupied by Republican Liz Vazquez, and Bob Lynn, an Anchorage Republican who's being challenged in the GOP primary by former Anchorage Assembly member Chris Birch.

And Working Families of Alaska, a group backed by Anchorage-based Laborers Local 341, reported spending $3,500 in the last week on newspaper and television ads supporting Dean Westlake, who's challenging Barrow Rep. Ben Nageak in the Democratic primary.

Nathaniel Herz

Anchorage-based independent journalist Nathaniel Herz has been a reporter in Alaska for nearly a decade, with stints at the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. Read his newsletter, Northern Journal, at natherz.substack.com

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