Forrest Dunbar, the leading liberal candidate for Anchorage mayor, has posted a hefty haul in his year-start financial report, and some names popped out that show how he has friends throughout the government.
Currently a member of the Anchorage Assembly, Dunbar at the beginning of the year had raised over $252,000 for his campaign for mayor.
One of the most high-profile and high-dollar donors to his race is Jamie Raskin.
That’s Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, an attorney who was the House of Representatives impeachment manager and lead prosecutor of President Donald Trump during the trial in the U.S. Senate earlier this month.
Also notable on the Dunbar list is Laurie Hummel, a frequent donor to Dunbar’s campaigns. Hummel is the Inspector General of the National Guard. Dunbar is a JAG officer in the Guard. Hummel has donated at least three times to Dunbar’s campaign for mayor.
Hummel once ran against former Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux for State House, and is a reliable Democratic Party contributor.
She’s also up the chain of command in terms of oversight for officers like Dunbar, and would have influence if ever a complaint was brought against him. She just has to pick up the phone and make a call to get complaints dismissed.
A former adjutant general of Alaska under Gov. Bill Walker, Hummel was replaced in 2019 by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. In 2015, she had chosen Dunbar to  to help overhaul the state’s code of military justice.
Must Read Alaska research shows that Dunbar is well-funded from outside Alaska:
- 21 percent of his donations come from out of state.
- 30 percent of his donations are from outside of Anchorage.
- 10 percent of his donations come from lawyers, many who work in the government bureaucracy, such as Department of Justice.
- 11 percent of his donations come from educators.
COMPARING WITH BERKOWITZ
Dunbar is not yet raking in as much campaign cash as his predecessor and Democrat ally Mayor Ethan Berkowitz did in 2018. Berkowitz raised $604,000 and had 2,636 contributions, about 89 percent of which were from inside the Anchorage Borough. Just 6 percent of Berkowitz’ donations were from out of Alaska.
Dunbar has raised $252,000 and 70 percent of his donations are from inside Anchorage so far, while 21 percent of his donations are from out of state.
Dunbar had, as of the beginning of the year, raised 42 percent of what Berkowitz had raised when he ran for reelection in 2018, but Dunbar’s out-of-state donations are 230 percent higher than Berkowitz’ were.
It’s early — there are 48 days until the end of the municipal election and the campaign cash reports will continue to be posted in coming weeks.
Ballots for the mail-in-only race will be in the mail about March 16 and must be postmarked by April 6.
Feb. 18 is the deadline for candidates for Anchorage mayor to file their year-start reports with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. Dunbar filed his report two weeks early.
