Doesn’t Alaska already have contribution limits?
Alaska’s individual-to-candidate contributions were struck down by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Thompson v. Hebdon decision in 2021. As a result, candidates today can now receive unlimited direct donations from anyone, anywhere in the United States.

Who are the supporters of this initiative?

This effort includes volunteers of all political persuasions from all over Alaska. The three sponsors of the initiative are Anchorage Representative Calvin Schrage, former Alaska Attorney General and Juneau mayor, Bruce Botelho, and Fairbanks business owner and Iditarod racer, David Monson.
 

How do we know these limits won’t be ruled unconstitutional as well?

In the 9th Circuit’s ruling, they provided a roadmap for how Alaska could pass new limits that are constitutional. In addressing these concerns, this initiative updates the prior limits to be in line with inflation, automatically adjusts them every ten years to remain constitutional, and moves to a “per campaign” limit on donations instead of a “per year” limit. 

 

Will these limits impact the 2024 elections?

They will not. The changes from this initiative, if passed, would not go into effect until 2025.
 

Why are the limits set to these amounts?
In the Ninth Circuit’s decision striking down Alaska’s prior voter-approved limits, they set out a clear path for how Alaska could create limits that would be constitutional. 

 

Does this impact Super PACs and Independent Expenditure groups?

Sadly, as a result of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, Alaska cannot implement laws which provide contribution limits on these entities. Nonetheless, this initiative will promote better government and accountability to Alaskan voters. 

 

What are the requirements to get this initiative on the ballot?

In order to meet the requirements and get on the November 2024 ballot, volunteers must gather and submit at least 26,705 individual signatures from registered Alaskan voters and at least 7% of the votes cast in the 2022 election for 30 of Alaska’s 40 house districts. Signatures must be turned in by January 16th, 2024. 

Who is funding this group?

Citizens Against Money in Politics (CAMP) is a volunteer-driven effort and is funded by Alaskans like you. If you’d like to join our efforts and contribute, you can do so here.

I love reading about this stuff, tell me more!

Alaska has historically celebrated some of the strongest, most effective campaign finance laws in the nation which promoted better accountability and trust in our elections and elected officials. Twice in recent years, Alaskans have made their support for fair and reasonable contribution limits clear, including a volunteer-driven ballot initiative in 2006 which passed overwhelmingly with 73%. But in 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Alaska’s statutory campaign contribution limits enacted by Alaskans voters. Without action, Alaska’s state and local elections will be faced with the threat of unlimited direct funding from anyone, anywhere in the country.

 

This ballot measure will reinstate fair, reasonable, and constitutional campaign contribution limits which are adjusted for inflation moving forward, ensuring these limits remain constitutional. This initiative moves Alaska’s campaign contributions to a “per campaign period” basis instead of the prior “per year” limits. This ensures that candidates, regardless of when they begin their campaign, are subject to the same limits as every other candidates. It also limits the amount an individual can contribute to a candidates to $2,000 per campaign and sets the amount a group can contribute to a candidate to $4,000 per campaign. 

 

These changes uphold the clear desire of Alaskan voters to fair and reasonable contribution limits and promote good government and accountability, while addressing the constitutional concerns laid out by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.