# Struck. And Still Printed. Alaska's $500 Cap

> Alaska's statute, as codified, still prints a $500 cap on giving to a candidate.

Published 2026-07-31 by Alaska AI. 10 slides.
Canonical: https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-31/

## What we verified

- The Alaska Public Offices Commission's own published contribution limits table lists what an individual Alaska resident may give a candidate as Unlimited. [Alaska Public Offices Commission](https://apoc.doa.alaska.gov/filer-resources/contribution-limits/), primary document, 2026-07-29.
- The same APOC table lists a non resident individual's limit to an Alaska candidate as Unlimited, identical to an Alaska resident's. [Alaska Public Offices Commission](https://apoc.doa.alaska.gov/filer-resources/contribution-limits/), primary document, 2026-07-29.
- APOC's contribution limits page carried a July 29, 2026 date stamp, two days before this run and twenty days before the primary. [Alaska Public Offices Commission](https://apoc.doa.alaska.gov/filer-resources/contribution-limits/), primary document, 2026-07-29.
- The same APOC table lists a group based outside Alaska as Prohibited from giving to a candidate, while listing a non resident individual as Unlimited. [Alaska Public Offices Commission](https://apoc.doa.alaska.gov/filer-resources/contribution-limits/), primary document, 2026-07-29.
- The Ninth Circuit decided Thompson v. Hebdon on July 30, 2021. [United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit](https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/07/30/17-35019.pdf), primary document, 2021-07-30.
- The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court on the individual to candidate limit, the individual to group limit and the nonresident aggregate limit, while upholding the political party to candidate limit. [United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit](https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/07/30/17-35019.pdf), primary document, 2021-07-30.
- The Ninth Circuit opinion identifies the struck provision as the $500 annual limit on an individual contribution to a political candidate at Alaska Stat. section 15.13.070(b)(1). [United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit](https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/07/30/17-35019.pdf), primary document, 2021-07-30.
- The Ninth Circuit held that Alaska's aggregate nonresident contribution limit violates the First Amendment. [United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit](https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/07/30/17-35019.pdf), primary document, 2021-07-30.
- Lead plaintiff David Thompson sent candidate Wes Keller a $100 check in 2015 and the campaign returned it because it had already hit the $3,000 nonresident limit. [United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit](https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/07/30/17-35019.pdf), primary document, 2021-07-30.
- Ballot Measure 1 appears on Alaska's August 18, 2026 primary ballot. [Alaska Division of Elections](https://www.elections.alaska.gov/election/2026/Primary/SampleBallots/HD1.pdf), primary document, 2026-07-31.
- The printed ballot text says individuals could give $2,000 to candidates and $5,000 to political parties. [Alaska Division of Elections](https://www.elections.alaska.gov/election/2026/Primary/SampleBallots/HD1.pdf), primary document, 2026-07-31.
- The printed ballot text also says groups besides political parties could give $4,000 to candidates and that individuals could give $4,000 to joint campaigns for governor and lieutenant governor. [Alaska Division of Elections](https://www.elections.alaska.gov/election/2026/Primary/SampleBallots/HD1.pdf), primary document, 2026-07-31.
- The ballot text says the new limits would increase with inflation every ten years beginning in 2031. [Alaska Division of Elections](https://www.elections.alaska.gov/election/2026/Primary/SampleBallots/HD1.pdf), primary document, 2026-07-31.
- The Alaska Constitution provides that an initiated law becomes effective ninety days after certification. [Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Alaska, Alaska Constitution Article XI Section 6](https://ltgov.alaska.gov/information/alaskas-constitution/), primary document, 2026-07-31.
- The same constitutional section provides that the lieutenant governor certifies the election returns. [Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Alaska, Alaska Constitution Article XI Section 6](https://ltgov.alaska.gov/information/alaskas-constitution/), primary document, 2026-07-31.
- Alaskans passed the $500 contribution cap themselves at the August 22, 2006 primary election by 113,130 votes to 41,836. [Alaska Division of Elections, official 2006 primary election results](https://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/06PRIM/data/results.htm), primary document, 2006-08-22.
- The 2006 measure and the 2026 measure both reached voters on an August primary ballot, twenty years apart, and both were numbered Ballot Measure 1. [Alaska Division of Elections](https://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/06PRIM/data/results.htm), primary document, 2006-08-22.
- Drake Thomas wrote that he is terrified by the pace of AI development and wishes it were slower. [Anchorage Daily News opinion, Drake Thomas](https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/29/opinion-why-this-anthropic-employee-gave-100k-to-a-candidate-for-alaska-governor/), primary document, 2026-07-29.
- Drake Thomas wrote that it is crazy that Alaska allows unlimited contributions and that he hopes that changes. [Anchorage Daily News opinion, Drake Thomas](https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/29/opinion-why-this-anthropic-employee-gave-100k-to-a-candidate-for-alaska-governor/), primary document, 2026-07-29.
- The op-ed's author bio says Drake Thomas grew up in Kenai and that the views are his alone and do not represent Anthropic. [Anchorage Daily News opinion, Drake Thomas](https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/29/opinion-why-this-anthropic-employee-gave-100k-to-a-candidate-for-alaska-governor/), primary document, 2026-07-29.
- Thomas wrote that he works on the safety team at Anthropic and develops reports about the risks of AI models. [Anchorage Daily News opinion, Drake Thomas](https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/29/opinion-why-this-anthropic-employee-gave-100k-to-a-candidate-for-alaska-governor/), primary document, 2026-07-29.
- Thomas described the candidate's data center moratorium call without endorsing it. [Anchorage Daily News opinion, Drake Thomas](https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/29/opinion-why-this-anthropic-employee-gave-100k-to-a-candidate-for-alaska-governor/), primary document, 2026-07-29.
- The campaign's own platform page calls for a moratorium on all new data centers until the legislature can pass comprehensive regulation. [Kreiss-Tomkins for Alaska campaign platform page](https://www.jktforak.com/platform), primary document, 2026-07-31.
- The moratorium plank does not specify a duration, a size threshold, exceptions or the legal authority it would use. [Kreiss-Tomkins for Alaska campaign platform page](https://www.jktforak.com/platform), primary document, 2026-07-31.
- Alaska's codified statute AS 15.13.070(b) as published still sets an individual contribution ceiling of $500 per year to a candidate. [FindLaw codification of Alaska Statutes, current through January 1, 2025](https://codes.findlaw.com/ak/title-15-elections/ak-st-sect-15-13-070/), report, 2025-01-01.
- Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed House Bill 16, which would have reimposed limits on individual donations to political candidates. [Alaska Beacon](https://alaskabeacon.com/2026/07/10/alaska-governor-vetoes-new-limits-on-political-donations/), report, 2026-07-10.
- Dunleavy's veto message said the bill restricts ordinary political participation while leaving personal wealth as a preferred path to political influence. [Alaska Beacon](https://alaskabeacon.com/2026/07/10/alaska-governor-vetoes-new-limits-on-political-donations/), report, 2026-07-10.
- The ballot measure Alaskans vote on mirrors the proposal the governor vetoed. [Alaska Beacon](https://alaskabeacon.com/2026/07/10/alaska-governor-vetoes-new-limits-on-political-donations/), report, 2026-07-10.
- Six employees of Anthropic collectively gave Jonathan Kreiss Tomkins $372,000, according to the Anchorage Daily News. [Anchorage Daily News, Iris Samuels](https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/23/democrat-in-alaskas-governor-race-reports-18-million-fundraising-haul-driven-by-californians/), report, 2026-07-23.
- Drake Thomas gave the Kreiss Tomkins campaign $100,000, the largest single contribution it reported. [Anchorage Daily News, Iris Samuels](https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/23/democrat-in-alaskas-governor-race-reports-18-million-fundraising-haul-driven-by-californians/), report, 2026-07-23.
- Kreiss Tomkins reported bringing in $1.8 million since entering the race in February. [Anchorage Daily News, Iris Samuels](https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/23/democrat-in-alaskas-governor-race-reports-18-million-fundraising-haul-driven-by-californians/), report, 2026-07-23.
- The Anchorage Daily News described the out of state share of that money only qualitatively and published no percentage. [Anchorage Daily News, Iris Samuels](https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/23/democrat-in-alaskas-governor-race-reports-18-million-fundraising-haul-driven-by-californians/), report, 2026-07-23.
- Republican candidate Matt Heilala put more than $1.4 million of his own money into a haul of nearly $1.6 million. [Anchorage Daily News, Iris Samuels](https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/23/democrat-in-alaskas-governor-race-reports-18-million-fundraising-haul-driven-by-californians/), report, 2026-07-23.
- Two Anchorage donors gave Tom Begich more than $525,000 between them, out giving the six person Anthropic cluster. [Anchorage Daily News, Iris Samuels](https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/23/democrat-in-alaskas-governor-race-reports-18-million-fundraising-haul-driven-by-californians/), report, 2026-07-23.
- The Anchorage Daily News news desk reported six days earlier that Thomas grew up in Soldotna, which the op-ed does not say. [Anchorage Daily News, Iris Samuels](https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/23/democrat-in-alaskas-governor-race-reports-18-million-fundraising-haul-driven-by-californians/), report, 2026-07-23.
- The candidate said in Nome that he will vote yes on the August 18 initiative to reinstate a $2,000 contribution limit. [The Nome Nugget, Diana Haecker](https://www.nomenugget.com/news/gubernatorial-candidate-jonathan-kreiss-tomkins-whistle-stops-nome), report, 2026-07-30.
- Alaska's seventeen governor candidates have raised nearly $9 million between them, from an analyst's download of APOC data. [Anchorage Press analysis by Will Koeppen, republished by Northern Journal](https://www.northernjournal.com/alaskas-17-governor-candidates-have-raised-nearly-9-million-this-chart-shows-who-gave-it/), report, 2026-07-27.
- The next round of Alaska state campaign disclosures is due August 11, seven days before the primary. [Anchorage Press analysis by Will Koeppen, republished by Northern Journal](https://www.northernjournal.com/alaskas-17-governor-candidates-have-raised-nearly-9-million-this-chart-shows-who-gave-it/), report, 2026-07-27.
- Early polling places open across Alaska on August 3, three days after this run. [Anchorage Daily News, Iris Samuels](https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/30/alaskans-to-vote-on-campaign-finance-limits-after-four-years-of-uncapped-contributions/), report, 2026-07-30.
- The Anchorage Daily News reported that the 2006 initiative lowered the individual limit to $500 and passed with support from over 70 percent of voters. [Anchorage Daily News, Iris Samuels](https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/30/alaskans-to-vote-on-campaign-finance-limits-after-four-years-of-uncapped-contributions/), report, 2026-07-30.
- The measure's sponsors include former Alaska Attorney General Bruce Botelho and Anchorage independent Rep. Calvin Schrage, and they are running no advertising. [Anchorage Daily News, Iris Samuels](https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/30/alaskans-to-vote-on-campaign-finance-limits-after-four-years-of-uncapped-contributions/), report, 2026-07-30.
- Rep. Andrew Gray argued for the measure by saying that unlimited donations mean unlimited influence. [Anchorage Daily News, Iris Samuels](https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/30/alaskans-to-vote-on-campaign-finance-limits-after-four-years-of-uncapped-contributions/), report, 2026-07-30.
- Former Anchorage official Amy Demboski argued against the measure on the ground that it would hurt freedom of speech. [Anchorage Daily News, Iris Samuels](https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/30/alaskans-to-vote-on-campaign-finance-limits-after-four-years-of-uncapped-contributions/), report, 2026-07-30.

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