You have probably heard that “Dark Money” is influencing Alaska politics. Some people say that is why the Ranked-Choice initiative was defeated and how Lisa Murkowski keeps getting reelected despite being wildly unpopular with most Alaskans. I now believe that Dark Money is a problem here, all because of a devious little political flyer that arrived in my mailbox today.

As usual, my daughter checked the mail and brought me a stack to go through. I was about to toss all the junk mail into the nearest trash can, but something about one letter caught my eye. One of the letters was supposedly written by a group of local individuals who began it, “Dear Neighbor.” A clue that the authors didn’t know me personally and were casting a wide net. I read the letter and found it to be an attack on State Rep. Sarah Vance, urging Homer residents to call her office in Juneau and urge her to support the profligate education spending plans of the Democrats and their Vichy Republican collaborators in the state House.

The 907 Initiative is a lefty political organization masquerading as a non-profit, which shows their devious nature and that of those who tried to use it against Representative Vance.

It was the usual leftist tripe, and I didn’t pay much attention. When I checked the bottom of the letter, multiple names were signatories. They all appeared to be local Homer residents, and we do have more than a few vocal partisan leftists in this town, so I wasn’t too surprised. In fact, I respect someone who personally uses their First Amendment rights to advance a position they believe in. What the heck, if they want to decorate the bottom of my trash can with their junk mail, it was their stamp after all.

When I took a closer look at the bottom of the letter, I discovered a possible connection between these misguided lefties and the notorious Dark Money.

Despite the salutation, this was not a letter from my neighbors. In fine print at the very bottom of the letter, it said it was paid for by the “907 Initiative,” a so-called nonprofit with a mailing address up in Anchorage. Their web page, linked here, shows who was really behind this so-called letter.

The 907 Initiative is a lefty political organization masquerading as a non-profit, which shows their devious nature and that of those who tried to use it against Representative Vance.

I did a little looking into the 907 Initiative. This corporation claims to be doing a public service by acting as a government watchdog organization. Interestingly, all of the statements on their website support a liberal agenda. They don’t mention the Democratic party, but all of their agenda items align perfectly with the Democratic party platform. They are opposed to cutting government spending. They are pro-abortion, pro-teachers’ unions, and they really, really hate former Republican Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson. They still have anti-Bronson information on their website, even though he lost the election last November. Talk about beating a dead horse, they should leave the poor guy alone already.

The reason the letter I received is important is that it wasn’t the product of a bunch of concerned citizens. It was paid for by a so-called non-profit, and that should be important to every Alaskan. This is where the Dark Money comes in.

Non-profits are supposed to be non-partisan. There are very specific IRS regulations regarding their conduct. One rule is that they cannot support political parties or candidates. If they did, that would make them a Political Action Committee with strict limits on the amount of money that can be donated. Non-profits must be very careful not to endorse any candidate or party by name, or they lose many privileges.

However, there is nothing that stops them from supporting citizens that are doing a “public service” by writing letters to the community to influence politicians. This is a gray area, and one that the 907 Initiative and the signatories are taking advantage of.

There is another loophole that non-profits like the 907 Initiative can take advantage of. A non-profit may receive unlimited contributions from a PAC. So, hypothetically, there could be a money trail where the NEA teachers’ union could donate to a PAC, the PAC could donate to the 907 Initiative, and the 907 Initiative could give money to a bunch of partisans in Homer to write a letter attacking a politician the teacher’s union doesn’t like.

The payment to print and distribute the letter has no connection to the teachers’ union. Hence, the money used to do this is called Dark Money. Technically, no rules were broken, but if this is what actually took place, it certainly flies in the face of the IRS non-profit regulations. Nonprofits are intended to be used by churches and organizations like the 4H Club, not politically partisan lobbying organizations.

That is how you can see the influence of Dark Money in small-town local politics here in Alaska.

To be clear, for all the lawyers out there. The previous three paragraphs are all hypothetical. I am not accusing any union or Political Action Committees of breaking any laws. The same goes for the 907 Initiative. I just wonder why an Anchorage non-profit is so interested in supporting local politics down here in Homer.

Something else I wonder about. The letter sent to me had a tiny symbol at the bottom. It was a union logo. I am not saying unions are trying to attack Representative Sarah Vance using Dark Money, but something just isn’t right about this letter. Some local morons may have signed it, but it looks like this propaganda has some connection to unions using Dark Money, and they were trying to influence local politics.

If I were a representative down in Juneau, and the unions were using underhanded tactics like this against me, I might take offense at that. I might even double down on my support of legislation they oppose. Then again, that’s just me.

Citations:

The following letter was received by a Homer resident on April 14, 2025.

The following logo is for the Printing, Packaging, Production Workers Union of North America. It is the center part of the tiny logo at the bottom of the letter.

The views expressed here are those of Greg Sarber. Read more Sarber posts at his Seward’s Folly substack.

Click here to support the Alaska Watchman.