There are no limits on campaign donations in Alaska right now.
In light of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Thompson v. Hebdon, the Alaska Public Offices Commission staff issued a draft advisory opinion last fall concerning contribution limits to campaigns, setting the new limit at $1,500. The amount was set arbitrarily by staff to be in the spirit of the previous $500 limit, struck down by the court, and to adjust for inflation to something more reasonable.
That staff opinion was struck down by the Commission itself on March 3, 2022, when the commission issued a final order, saying, “there are no longer any individual-to-candidate; individual-to-non-political party; non-political party group-to-candidate; and non-political party group-to-non-political party contributions for Alaska’s state and local elections.
At the same time, the Commission implored the Legislature to come up with new campaign limit legislation that voters would approve.
The ruling means unless the Legislature makes a new law that holds up in court, an unlimited amount of cash may be spent in Alaska races, clearly a game changer for a state that, until last summer, had the strictest limits on contributions of any state.
This story will be updated.
