Campaign finance limits and Dunleavy's secret effort to get rid of them

In the news coverage of the decision to eliminate limits on campaign contributions, there has been some confusion about the actions of the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

The commission actually voted 3-2 to keep campaign finance limitations in effect, endorsing a draft opinion from the APOC staff.

But state law, for reasons that aren’t clear, requires that any draft APOC opinion must have at least four votes to be approved. Getting four out of five votes is a high hurdle for any item.

Three commission members—Suzanne Hancock of Anchorage and Van Lawrence and Dan LaSota of Fairbanks—voted to approve the staff plan, which would have limited contributions to $1,500 from individuals, up from the $500 limit struck down by the federal courts. The $1,500 limit was in place before the lower limit was approved in 2006 by voters.

Hancock is a Republican, while Lawrence and LaSota are Democrats.

In an unusual move, the three members supporting the staff plan put their names in the written decision. The others did not.

In a footnote, the commission said, “Two commissioners were not in favor of reviving contribution limits set in 2003, in part because they determined this is a core function of the Alaska Legislature.”

The two unnamed members are Anchorage resident Anne Helzer, chair of the commission, and Rick Stillie Jr. of Delta Junction. Both are Republicans.

Dunleavy directed the attorney general not to appeal the federal court decision that struck down the state law, but his office never revealed his role in dropping the case. Attorney General Treg Taylor even filed a document with the federal court which contained the lie that the state dropped the appeal because it was possible the state would lose the case.

In fact, Dunleavy supported the decision to strike down the law, but he and the AG concealed this from Alaskans.

Dunleavy’s public relations staff continued to claim last week that he had no opinion on the matter, but Dunleavy told the Anchorage Daily News that he opposes limits on campaign contributions and agreed with the court ruling. His PR people were either lying or uninformed.

The Legislature has various bills to establish campaign contribution limits that would probably pass muster with the federal courts, but Republican opponents may keep them from ever getting to Dunleavy’s desk, allowing him to avoid the political consequences of a veto.

It is possible that Dunleavy will try to convert the hundreds of thousands he raised to fight the recall into campaign contributions. It is clear that the APOC decision clears the way for big money donors, including his brother and Bob Penney, to support his campaign with plenty of cash.