In what may surprise many conservative voters in Alaskan, a number of self-identified Republican candidates for the Alaska Legislature are being heavily financed by outside money and resources from well-heeled Democratic operatives.

Chuck Kopp, for instance, is officially running as a Republican to represent Southwest Anchorage in the State House. His campaign, however, is being fueled by major Democratic operatives.

A recent letter, penned by Anchorage’s radical Democratic State Rep. Zack Fields and left-leaning activist Caroline Storm, urges fellow Democrats to vote for Kopp in the upcoming election.

The letter notes how easy it was to work Kopp during the 2019-2020 legislative session in Juneau. This was the period when Kopp turned on fellow Republicans and voted to empower a Democratic controlled State House, despite the fact that the GOP held a clear majority of seats.

The letter lauds Kopp’s willingness to abandon party loyalties to create bipartisan majorities. For years now, this tactic has effectively marginalized conservative lawmakers in Juneau while empowering Democrats with key committee assignments.

Paid for by a Lower-48-funded political action committee, Putting Alaskans First Committee, the letter is part of a wider campaign by Democrats to elect state lawmakers who claim to be Republican but who are willing to hand power over to Democrats.

Among the top contributors to Putting Alaskans First are left-leaning billionaires, John Arnold of Houston, TX, and Kathryn Murdoch of New York. Others include the National Education Association Advocacy Fund out of Washington, DC, and Democratic operative, LIUNA Political Fund in DC. Another major contributor is the powerful union – Alaska AFL-CIO. Money from these groups is being used to flood radio waves, purchase targeted digital ads, conduct phone banks and stuff mailboxes with political propaganda mailers.

Beyond Anchorage, this group is also involved in local and state elections in Fairbanks, Juneau, Kenai, Mat-Su. In total, it has raised nearly $800,000 to influence election outcomes, with nearly all of that money coming from outside Alaska.

In addition to consistently supporting Democrats over Republicans in nearly every contest, Putting Alaskans First has employed a strategy of backing the least conservative Republican in any race wherein two Republicans are running against each other with no Democratic alternative.

For example, Putting Alaskans First is actively opposing Eagle River conservative Jared Goecker in his attempt to unseat Rep. Kelly Merrick who has a history of siding with Democrats in Juneau.

The group is also opposing principled conservative Ben Carpenter in his Senate race against the less conservative Rep. Jesse Bjorkman on the Kenai.

In Fairbanks, Putting Alaskans First is backing Joy Beth Cottle in her race against fellow Republican Frank Tomaszewski.

In other races, the group consistently backs so-called “unaffiliated or undeclared” candidates. This is the case in the Fairbanks House contest where left-leaning candidate Savannah Fletcher is battling Republican Mike Cronk.

Click here to support Alaska Watchman reporting.