APOC: Assemblyman Chris Constant illegally campaigned for Anchorage Assembly members

The Alaska Public Offices Commission has filed a complaint against Anchorage Assembly member Chris Constant, who ran unopposed in the municipal election, and who the commission says used a fraction of his vast campaign war chest to support his fellow liberals in their reelection efforts.

Constant ran several ads in support of Assembly members Suzanne LaFrance, Pete Peterson, Austin Quinn-Davidson, Meg Zalatel, and Felix Rivera. All won their bids for reelection.

During the last three days before the April 7 election was completed, Constant ran a Facebook ad “extolling the accomplishments the candidate had made together,” (shown above).

The ad was seen by Anchorage residents between the ages of 18 and over 65 on Facebook.

Then, on April 6, one day before the election, Contant posted individual ads for each of his fellow liberals on the Assembly who were running for reelection.

APOC staff say that Constant violated Alaska Statute 15.13 by using campaign funds to make a contribution to other candidates to try to influence other races.

The amount spent by Constant on the illegal campaign appears to be less than $100 and will likely result in a minor “cost of doing business” fine.

Constant started the year with over $27,000 in his campaign account. By the end of March, he had amassed nearly $33,000 in his campaign account and spent about $17,000 on his campaign. Constant had a lot of money to spare, and so had some cartoon ads designed to support those on the Assembly with whom he is politically aligned.

The APOC complaint does not include the cost of designing the ads, but only the placement of the ads on Facebook.

Constant has lived in the downtown Anchorage district since 1998. He is a licensed real estate agent and a grants and contracts director for Akeela, a statewide substance abuse recovery non profit. He has served twice as the president of the Fairview Community Council.