Alaska picks four winners for inaugural PFD raffle

JUNEAU — An Alaskan named James Johnson has won the top prize in the inaugural Permanent Fund dividend raffle intended to benefit Alaska’s public schools.

It wasn’t immediately clear which of Alaska’s many James Johnsons was the winner. Anne Weske, director of the Permanent Fund dividend division, would not provide winners’ middle initial or hometown. She said Johnson and three other winners would be notified by telephone promptly.

The top prize in this year’s raffle was $17,396 in cash. Second prize, $8,698, went to Joshua Foster. The third prize of $4,349 was awarded to Dantasia James, and Laura Hayes took fourth prize, worth $2,174.50.

Johnson’s name was on at least one of the 8,698 tickets sold for $100 apiece during last year’s Permanent Fund dividend application.

The drawing took place Tuesday afternoon at Juneau’s Harborview Elementary School. Department of Education and Early Development Commissioner Michael Johnson selected the winning names from a revolving drum after a series of speeches that included remarks from interim Department of Revenue commissioner Mike Barnhill, Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks.

The raffle program was created in legislation written by Bishop and passed by the Legislature in 2018.

In its first year, the raffle distributed $434,900 to K-12 schools and provided $217,450 for an education endowment. A prize fund received $217,450, with $32,617 paid this year and the remainder carried over to boost future years’ prizes.