LETTER: Ballot can restore campaign contribution limits
Published 4:30 am Sunday, August 2, 2026
An exciting elections season for Alaskans is upon us. The primaries are to advance your favorite candidate for governor, U.S. State Representative and U.S. Senator to the general election in November.
Voting stations will be open Tuesday, Aug. 18 but early voting begins two weeks earlier on Aug. 3. There will also be a ballot initiative (Ballot Measure 1) on the ballot also which would allow Alaskans to restore campaign finance contributions, which used to be in place but were removed in 2021.
Our Alaskan state representatives and senators recently presented the governor with a bill to reinstate campaign contribution limits (House Bill 16) but this was vetoed by the governor on July 6. Governor Dunleavy has explainied his concern about limits to political campaigns and candidates being about not favoring super-wealthy individuals who might choose to pay for all of their campaign expenses personally.
This strikes me as a specious argument because he frames limits as restricting the ordinary Alaskan’s ability to support candidates. But the previous cap structure ($500, now proposed at $2,000) is well above what the vast majority of small donors give. Limits don’t stop ordinary participation — they stop a small number of large donors from dominating. Unlimited contributions don’t equalize things between rich self-funders and ordinary donors — they let wealthy donors (not just candidates) buy influence. Yes on 1 would take affect in the 2028 elections.
Emily Kane
