On File, Off Record. Alaska's AI Governor Race.
24 days.
The deck
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The story
Then Alaska's primary narrows a field of 17 who would write its AI rules. Reports made public this week show Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins with the largest reported haul, 1.8 million dollars, most from Lower 48 donors per the Anchorage Daily News. Six Anthropic employees gave 372,000 of it.
Matt Heilala gave his own campaign more than 1.4 million, more than those six combined. Kreiss-Tomkins says most of his national donors have one agenda, whether he can win.
The money is compelled by law. The AI answers are not.
Disclosure, this deck was built with a Claude model made by Anthropic, those six donors' employer.
Inside, five hauls at one scale, four candidates who skipped a June AI survey, and six blanks for your candidate.
Before August 18, would you vote for a candidate who left June's AI questions blank?
What we verified
30 CLAIMS, EACH RE-FETCHED FROM ITS SOURCE BEFORE THIS DECK SHIPPED
Offers on the Air Force AI data center lease solicitation were due June 29, 2026 after the original May 29 deadline was extended, and no award is reflected in the federal opportunity record.
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins has brought in 1.8 million dollars since entering Alaska's governor race in February 2026.
Treg Taylor reported 1 million dollars in fundraising and Adam Crum reported raising nearly 940,000 dollars.
Kreiss-Tomkins said Alaska should have a process and a policy on data centers and that until it does, nothing should happen.
Kreiss-Tomkins wants Alaska to hold AI companies liable for harms caused by their products, ban deepfakes, require the disclosure of AI in political ads, crack down on AI enabled fraud, implement protections for children against AI content, and require a human behind state decisions.
Kreiss-Tomkins said he is a huge supporter of campaign finance reform because he does not think fundraising should have the role that it does, but that in the system we have, it is important.
Kreiss-Tomkins said most of his national donors have only one agenda, which is whether he can win.
Kreiss-Tomkins said that almost universally, if donors think someone can win, then national interest starts to appear.
Alaska's statewide primary election is August 18, 2026.
No other candidate in the race had reported spending over 650,000 dollars at the time of the filings.
No allegation of unlawful or improper contributions is reported in this coverage.
In a June 2026 candidate survey, Kreiss-Tomkins wrote that at the end of the day it has to be people, not algorithms, making the decisions that shape our lives.
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins is among the 17 candidates in Alaska's governor race.
In the same survey Kreiss-Tomkins wrote that Alaskans' personal information belongs to Alaskans alone and should not be fed into third party systems without consent.
In the same survey Kreiss-Tomkins wrote that Alaska's power and water are not a giveaway and that no Alaskan should watch their electric bill climb to subsidize a server farm.
In the same survey Kreiss-Tomkins wrote that he worries the AI industry has downplayed the risks posed to the public and that the federal government has been totally flat footed.
Republican candidate Michael Gilbert answered the survey by saying he will not use any AI in his administration.
Mat-Su borough mayor Edna DeVries ended her survey answer on AI by disclosing that she used AI to write it.
Republican candidate Shelley Hughes says she authored the first AI legislation in Alaska a few years ago.
Republican candidate Lesil McGuire said any algorithmic decision affecting Alaskans must have an explainable, human appealable path, and that every public facing AI output must be reviewed and signed off by a qualified state employee before release.
Independent candidate Bill Walker said manufactured ideas cannot substitute genuine, dynamic thought or input from Alaskans.
Republicans Bernadette Wilson, Treg Taylor and Adam Crum and independent Meda DeWitt did not respond to the survey's questions despite multiple requests.
The Air Force issued a request for lease proposals making about 4,700 acres at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Eielson Air Force Base and Clear Space Force Station available for AI data center development.
Kreiss-Tomkins reported the largest haul in the field, ahead of Matt Heilala at nearly 1.6 million dollars and Tom Begich at 1.1 million dollars.
Six employees of Anthropic, a California based artificial intelligence company, collectively gave Kreiss-Tomkins 372,000 dollars.
The campaign's largest single contribution came from an Anthropic employee named Drake Thomas, who gave 100,000 dollars.
Drake Thomas grew up in Soldotna and now lives in Berkeley, California.
The majority of Kreiss-Tomkins's funding came from wealthy donors in the Lower 48, per Anchorage Daily News reporting.
Matt Heilala reported a total haul of nearly 1.6 million dollars, with more than 1.4 million dollars of it from himself.
Tom Begich reported a total haul of 1.1 million dollars.
Beats
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