The candidates to represent Wrangell in the state Legislature have filed their first campaign finance reports for the Aug. 16 primary election. Not surprisingly, House and Senate incumbents have the lead in fundraising.
Rep. Dan Ortiz is looking to keep his seat in the newly redrawn District 1, which includes his hometown of Ketchikan, along with Wrangell, Metlakatla, Hyder, Saxman and the Prince of Wales Island communities of Coffman Cove and Whale Pass.
Ortiz reported to Alaska’s campaign finance monitor, the Alaska Public Offices Commission, that he raised $16,424 in contributions between Feb. 2 and July 15. Almost $5,900 of that was his own money.
“I’m not having too much of a problem at all fundraising,” Ortiz said. “I’m not recognizing any upswell of anti-Ortiz sentiment out there, either on social media or anywhere else, so I think it’s going pretty well.”
About 40% of his early fundraising came from donors who listed home addresses outside the district.
Almost all of that out-of-district money was from organizations, including labor groups NEA-Alaska and the Teamsters, which pitched in a total of $1,500 for his campaign. And two dental organizations — the Alaska Dental Society and Dentists of Alaska Political Action Committee — chipped in $1,000 each.
Ortiz had just shy of $16,000 on hand as of July 15. He said he raised a total of about $70,000 during his past campaign and is looking to take in a similar amount this year. He was first elected to the House in 2014.
Republican challenger and Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly Member Jeremy Bynum reported $12,878 in contributions. The vast majority — all but $364 — came from Bynum himself, including a $10,000 check to kick-start his campaign for the House and a variety of purchases he made with his own money. Bynum said he’s still working on getting his fundraising effort up and running.
“Overall, I think it’s going well,” Bynum said. “It just takes some time to try to get those mechanisms in place.”
Contributions have averaged about $60 each. All of Bynum’s reported donors were individuals with addresses in the Ketchikan area. Bynum said he is glad to have some small-dollar support but is open to larger contributions.
He had about $10,000 on hand as of July 15.
Air cargo pilot Shevaun Meggitt, of Wrangell, who had filed to run as a nonpartisan for the House seat, said in an emailed statement that she is ending her campaign and endorsing Bynum because of unexpected personal issues.
In the race for state Senate District A, which includes Wrangell, Sen. Bert Stedman raised $21,500 between Feb. 2 and July 15. The Sitka Republican, who has served in the Legislature since November 2003, said he’s just getting started with his reelection campaign.
“It’s early yet, particularly along the coast — we’ve got tourism season going full speed with our visitors, we’ve got fishing season in full swing. People are busy working,” Stedman said. “The campaign will start to slowly pick up the pace and accelerate through November.”
All but $500 raised so far came from donors outside the district.
Stedman’s 23 listed donors averaged more than $900 each, including $14,500 from seafood industry executives and managers. He said much of that came from a recent fundraiser in Washington state.
“The fish processing industry is mainly outside of Alaska, mainly based in Seattle. And that’s just due to the economics of the industry itself,” Stedman said.
His district includes coastal communities stretching from Yakutat to Ketchikan.
Stedman had $23,441 in his campaign bank account as of July 15, according to the report.
His lone challenger, Petersburg handyman and Republican Mike Sheldon, raised $2,410 between Feb. 2 and July 15. All of that came from individuals, averaging about $100 each.
About half came from outside the district. Sheldon also kicked in $500 of his own money. He was sitting on $871 as of mid-July.
With fewer than four candidates in each race, all will advance from the pick-one Aug. 16 primary to the ranked-choice general election on Nov. 8.
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