Outside interests want to use dark money to influence you to control politics in Juneau and Washington, DC. I recently documented one attempt by a group called the 907 Initiative, a left-wing political effort based in Anchorage. However, they are small potatoes compared to the lobbyists who want to influence you nationally.

First, a bit of housekeeping. I incorrectly identified the Democrat advocacy group “The 907 Initiative” as a 501c3 corporation in a recent post. A reader pointed out they are a c4 organization. That may be factually correct, but it is a difference without a distinction. The 907 Initiative deceitfully passed off a lobbying attempt to advance a public education funding bill when they paid for what was said to be a grassroots letter from concerned citizens. The 907 Initiative is a partisan political organization, and a visit to their website shows why I make this claim.

The donation link on their website takes you to a website run by ActBlue. ActBlue is a funding organization for the Democrat Party that was in the news last week. President Trump signed a memorandum cracking down on organizations that operate online fundraising platforms like ActBlue, claiming they “have been willing participants in schemes to launder excessive and prohibited contributions to political candidates and committees.” Nineteen state attorneys general have opened similar investigations into these organizations.

The 907 Initiative has affiliations with ActBlue, and I stick with my original claim that Alaska’s attorney General should open an investigation to see if any crimes have been committed by their letter, and nothing about the 907 Initiative’s status as a c4 corporation changes that.

Now, on to the most recent efforts to use Dark Money to sway politics in Alaska. My wife recently received a text message from a political action committee (PAC) that supports renewable energy. You can see a snippet of that text message on the right. The text asked my wife to call Senator Murkowski to support clean energy tax credits. The group making this request was “American Energy Action.” They are a Washington, D.C., environmental lobbyist. This group is a Super PAC. Unlike the spending restrictions placed on 501c3 and c4 organizations, Super PACs have much more ability to influence politicians using dark money.

This wasn’t a random call. Alaska is a fertile ground for lobbyists and Political Action Committees. Political organizations can have a real impact with their lobbying dollars for a relatively small amount spent. Here is how it works.

We have a small population, so relatively fewer voters need to be swayed to influence our politicians. For the 2024 General Election, there were 611,078 voters in Alaska. In a state like California, there are almost 27 million voters. Suppose an organization wants to organize a call-in campaign to influence a senator. A senator from Alaska has the same power in Washington, DC as a senator from California, but you can influence the Alaska senator by swaying far fewer voters. That is why Alaskans are the victims of so many robocalls and text messages attempting to sway their opinion on political issues, and that is why political organizations like the 907 Initiative exist. They can have an outsized impact for a relatively small amount of money.

One needs to look no further than the vote on the school funding bill in Juneau last week. HB57 was passed, and three members of the Republican minority surprisingly voted in support of it. One of those individuals was Sarah Vance, District 6’s representative from Homer, the very person targeted by the 907 Initiative with their deceitful letter a week ago. A coincidence? I think not.

The reason dark money is used to advance Democrat political objectives in Alaska is because it works for them.

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

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