Campaign finance ballot measure passing by wide margin

From Alaska Public Media:In 2021, a federal court ruled that Alaska’s $500 limit on individual campaign contributions was too low, leaving the state without a cap on campaign contributions. Now, voters have approved a ballot measure that would set the limit on individual contributions at $2000 per election cycle and $4000 for political groups, with an adjustment for inflation. The measure will take effect after the November election.

Why super PACs are suddenly spending big on Alaska’s U.S. Senate underdogs

From OpenSecrets: Super PACs in Alaska’s US Senate race have been spending large amounts of money on boosting underdog candidates who have little chance of winning, in an effort to undermine other candidates in the race. Rather than directly and openly spending to support their chosen candidate or attack their opponent, PACs will spend money boosting underdog candidates in an attempt to strip votes away from a frontrunner. For example, one PAC, Fair Deal Alaska, spent more than $300,000 boosting a Green Party candidate who lives in Arizona and describes running for office as a “hobby.” Alaska’s elections are unique, in that the top 4 candidates from the primary will advance to the general election, which uses ranked-choice voting.

S.F. ethics commission votes to end politicians’ campaign-finance loophole

From Mission Local: Although San Francisco has a $500 limit for contributions to candidates, candidates have frequently taken advantage of a loophole that allows them to raise and spend unlimited amounts through ballot measure committees. Candidates can set up a ballot measure committee, which does not have contribution limits, and then have that committee place ads for or against that ballot measure which prominently feature the candidate. The city’s ethics commissioners voted 4-0 to apply the $500 contribution limit to any committee controlled by a candidate.

Google Just Made It Easier for Campaigns to Send You Fund-Raising Emails

From The New York Times:Google has implemented a new program that will allow political fundraising emails to bypass spam filters in Gmail. Verified campaigns, political parties, and political committees will have to register with Google and maintain a spam rate (the number of emails users manually mark as spam) below 0.3%. Republicans have long criticized Google’s spam filters for allegedly blocking more of their emails than those of Democrats. Americans will likely receive far more fundraising emails from both sides as a result of this new program, leading to higher fundraising totals for candidates and committees.