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Campaign finance requirements in Alaska
 in Alaska |
 |
Federal campaign finance laws and regulations |
|---|
| Campaign finance reform |
| History of campaign finance reform |
| State by state comparison of campaign finance reporting requirements |
| Election policy |
| State information |
Campaign finance requirements govern how much money candidates and campaigns may receive from individuals and organizations, how they must report those contributions, and how much individuals, organizations, and political parties may contribute to campaigns. In addition to direct campaign contributions, campaign finance laws also apply to third-party organizations and nonprofit organizations that seek to influence elections through independent expenditures or issue advocacy.
This page provides background on campaign finance regulation, lists contribution limits to state candidates and ballot measures in Alaska, compares contribution limits to gubernatorial and state legislative candidates in Alaska with those from other states, and details the candidate reporting requirements in Alaska.
The information on this page pertains to candidates for state office and state ballot measures. Candidates for federal office are subject to federal campaign finance law. Candidates for local office are subject to all applicable state laws as well as any separate local campaign finance regulations.[1]
Background
- See also: Campaign finance regulation
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency responsible for administering and enforcing federal campaign election laws. The FEC is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions and the oversight of the public funding of presidential elections.[2] According to the FEC, an individual becomes a federal candidate, and must begin to report their campaign finances, once he or she has either raised or spent $5,000 in pursuit of his or her campaign. Within fifteen days of this benchmark for status as a candidate, the candidate must register with the FEC and designate an official campaign committee, to be responsible for the funds and expenditures of the campaign. This committee must have an official treasurer, and cannot support any candidate but the one who registered the committee. Detailed financial reports are then made to the FEC every financial quarter after the individual is registered with the FEC. Reports are also made before primaries and before the general election.[3]
The Supreme Court of the United States has issued a number of rulings pertaining to federal election campaign finance regulations. In the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited. The court's decision also overturned the ban on for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and unions broadcasting electioneering communications in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before a general election.[4] In the SpeechNOW.org v. Federal Election Commission decision, the first application of the Citizens United decision, the court held that contribution limits on what individuals could give to independent expenditure-only groups, and the amount these organizations could receive, were unconstitutional. Contribution limits on donations directly to candidates, however, remain constitutional.[5][6] In 2014's McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court overturned biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits, and held that individuals may now contribute to as many federal candidates as they want, but may only contribute up to the federal limit in each case.[7]
While the FEC governs federal election campaigns and contribution limits, individual states require their own level of regulation and reporting. The amount of regulation required differs by state, as do the limits on campaign contributions and third-party activities to influence elections. Candidates for local office must follow any applicable state and local campaign finance regulations.
Contribution limits
The table below details contribution limits as they applied to various types of individuals and groups in Alaska as of May 2025. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient. A non-group entity is defined as follows:[8]
| “ | 'nongroup entity' means a person, other than an individual, that takes action the major purpose of which is to influence the outcome of an election, and that
(A) cannot participate in business activities; (B) does not have shareholders who have a claim on corporate earnings; and (C) is independent from the influence of business corporations.[9] |
” |
| Individuals | Single candidate committees | Groups (PACs) | Non-group entity | Political party | Super PACs | Corporations | Unions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | unlimited | $0 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $100,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
| Senate | unlimited | $0 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $15,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
| House | unlimited | $0 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $10,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
| PAC | unlimited | $0 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
| Party committees | $5,000 | $0 | $1,000 | $1,000 | unlimited | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
| Non-group entity | unlimited | $0 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
| Ballot measures | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | ||
| Limits apply per year. | |||||||||
| Sources: Alaska Public Offices Commission, "Alaska Campaign Annual Contribution Limits - AS 15.13," accessed May 7, 2025 | |||||||||
State comparisons in the 2024 elections
Candidate reporting requirements
See statutes: Title 15.13 of the Alaska Election Law
Each candidate must appoint a campaign treasurer who is responsible for receiving, holding, and disbursing all contributions and expenditures, and for filing all reports and statements required by law. A candidate may also serve as his or her own campaign treasurer.[11][12]
Each candidate for state office must file the name and address of the campaign treasurer with the Alaska Public Offices Commission no later than 15 days after the date of filing the declaration of candidacy. Alongside the declaration of candidacy, the candidate must file a Financial Disclosure form with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. [11]
After registering his or her campaign, the candidate must follow a campaign finance reporting schedule in which campaign contributions and expenditures are documented and reported. These reports include the following information:
- the date and amount of all expenditures made by the candidate
- the total amount of all contributions, including all funds contributed by the candidate
- the name, address, date, and amount contributed by each contributor
- for contributions in excess of $50 in the aggregate during a calendar year, the principal occupation and employer of the contributor.
If a candidate does not intend to raise or expend more than $5,000 in seeking election to office, including both the primary and general elections, the candidate should submit an Exemption Statement. The candidate must still abide by campaign disclosure laws.[13][14]
Reporting schedule
Each candidate must make a full campaign finance report for the period ending three days before the due date of the report and beginning on the last day covered by the most recent previous report. If the report is a first report, it must cover the period from the beginning of the campaign to the date three days before the due date of the report. If the report is a report due February 15, it must cover the period beginning on the last day covered by the most recent previous report or on the day that the campaign started, whichever is later, and ending on February 1 of that year.[15]
Reports must be filed according to the following schedule:[15]
- after registering a campaign with the Alaska Public Offices Commission
- 30 days before an election
- one week before the election
- 24-hour reports (for candidates who receive individual contributions that exceed $250 within nine days of an election)
- February 15 for expenditures made and contributions received that were not reported previously
Campaign finance legislation
The table below displays bills related to campaign finance introduced during or carried over to Alaska's current legislative session.[16]
Election and campaign ballot measures
Ballotpedia has tracked 3 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.
- Alaska SJR 1, Residence Requirement to Vote for President Amendment (August 1966)
- Alaska Ballot Measure 2, Top-Four Ranked-Choice Voting and Campaign Finance Laws Initiative (2020)
- Alaska Ballot Measure 2, Repeal Top-Four Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative (2024)
Election administration agencies
Election agencies
- See also: State election agencies
Individuals seeking additional information about election administration in Alaska can contact the following state, and federal agencies.
Alaska Division of Elections
- Physical Address: Court Plaza Building
- 240 Main Street, 4th Floor
- Juneau, AK 99801
- Mailing Address: PO Box 110017
- Juneau, AK 99811-0017
- Phone: 907-465-4611
- Toll free: 866-952-8683
- Website: https://www.elections.alaska.gov/
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
- 633 3rd Street NW, Suite 200
- Washington, DC 20001
- Phone: 301-563-3919
- Toll free: 1-866-747-1471
- Email: clearinghouse@eac.gov
- Website: https://www.eac.gov
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
- 1050 First Street, NE
- Washington, DC 20463
- Telephone: (202)-694-1100
- Toll-free: 1-800-424-9530
- Email: info@fec.gov
- Website: http://www.fec.gov/
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Alaska campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Campaign Finance Enforcement," accessed May 28, 2025
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "About the FEC," accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Candidate Registration Brochure," accessed December 7, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit," January 21, 2010
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Speechnow.org v. FEC," April 7, 2014
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Two Federal Court Rulings Could Change Campaign Finance Landscape," March 26, 2010
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ongoing Litigation," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ A.S. 15.13, "Chapter 13. State Election Campaigns," accessed May 7, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Limits on Contributions to Candidates 2023-2024 Election Cycle," accessed May 8, 2025
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Alaska Election Law, "Title 15.13.060," accessed March 25, 2014
- ↑ Alaska Department of Elections, "Candidate Registration Form," accessed November 29, 2013
- ↑ Alaska State Legislature, "Alaska Election Law," accessed November 29, 2013
- ↑ Alaska Division of Elections, "Candidate Exemption," accessed March 28, 2014
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Alaska Election Law, "Title 15.13.110," accessed March 25, 2014
- ↑ Bills are organized by most recent action. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.
