Alaska will hold its primary election on August 18, but for most of the races, Ranked Choice Voting has rendered this election virtually meaningless, which will cause voter apathy, resulting in a low turnout for the primary and hurting the candidates in close contests. What is even worse, rich political interests are attempting to subvert the election system and essentially buy the governorship of our state. All this because Alaska uses the Ranked Choice Voting system and allows unlimited campaign contributions to local candidates.
The first challenge to this year’s primary election is that voter apathy may occur because the primary is largely meaningless for most races. RCV allows the top four candidates in each race to advance to the general election. Of the 53 races in the 2026 election, 45 of them have four or fewer entrants; all candidates in these races will advance, regardless of the primary election results. Voters know their vote won’t matter in those races, which may cause many to choose not to vote.
The two Democrats remaining in the race have both received massive funding from individuals that would be illegal in a federal election campaign.
Ironically, while the primary will have no impact for the vast majority of races, the three most critical ones, those for governor, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Representative, all have the opposite problem. At least 15 candidates are running for each of these contests. That, combined with a low-turnout election, will mean the top four candidates will advance with exceptionally low vote totals.
When you add in the fact that there are no limits on campaign contributions for elections to state offices, you have the perfect recipe for the manipulation of the election. Politicians need money to run for office, and with no limits on donations, rich and powerful individuals could have an outsized impact on who wins. This is exactly what is happening in the race for governor. Political interests appear to be trying to buy the governor’s election for Democratic candidates.
The two Democrats remaining in the race have both received massive funding from individuals that would be illegal in a federal election campaign. Unlike federal election law, which limits donations to a candidate to $3,500, Alaska has no such campaign donation limits for elections to state office.
According to a report in the Anchorage Daily News, influential people are taking advantage of that loophole to give outsized donations to the Democrats. Tom Begich, the current leading Democratic candidate, has received contributions from wealthy Alaskans, with his top contributor being Justin Weaver from Anchorage, who gave Begich $250,000 recently. That amount would land Mr. Weaver in jail if he willfully attempted to give it to Mary Peltola, or anyone else running for federal office, but is perfectly legal if he gives it to someone running for govern
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As bad as Tom Begich’s political patronage is, he has been outdone by his Democrat opponent, Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, an individual nobody outside of Sitka has ever heard of before. Kreiss-Tomkins has been thrust into the Alaskan political spotlight, gaining a surprising following, given his modest political experience. Perhaps the reason for his success is that Kreiss-Tomkins captured the eye of Anthropic, a California company specializing in Artificial Intelligence. Six employees of Anthropic have donated a total of $372,000 to the Kreiss-Tomkins campaign. It is a mystery why an AI company in California would try to influence an election here in Alaska. One explanation might be that Anthropic is looking for political influence to help it build data centers here in Alaska.
Our election system is based on the premise of one person, one vote. Unfortunately, current election law in Alaska disenfranchises the average voter while giving rich, influential people an outsized influence over the candidates. This subverts the intent of our founders, who created a democratic republic where all men are created equal and should have equal rights under the law.
If the Democrat candidates exceed expectations in the primary election simply because they have rich friends, it proves how broken our election system really is. My father-in-law used to say that politics in Alaska is the most corrupt in the entire country. I am starting to understand what he meant.
The views expressed here are those of Greg Sarber. Read more Sarber posts at his Seward’s Folly substack.
Editor’s note: Early voting opens statewide on Aug. 3, and Aug. 8 is the last day to request an absentee ballot by mail. Aug. 18 is Primary Election Day. Click here to request an absentee ballot. Click here to view sample ballots for the Aug. 18 primary. Click here to find out which House District you live in, which will determine your primary ballot.
