Dark Money in the
Last Frontier
Outside groups, hidden donors, and the race for Alaska's Senate seat
Alaska's 2026 U.S. Senate race has become one of the most closely watched contests in the country — and with that attention has come an influx of outside money from organizations that are not required to disclose where their funding comes from. Two 501(c)(4) nonprofits, one on each side of the aisle, are now shaping the airwaves of the Last Frontier while keeping their donor lists hidden from the public.
On the Republican side, Last Frontier Action is running six-figure ad campaigns boosting incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan. On the Democratic side, Majority Forward, linked to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, is spending heavily to weaken Sullivan ahead of the November election. Neither group is legally required to tell Alaskans who is paying for the ads.
"No Lower 48 special interest group should be telling Alaskans how to vote."
— Mary Peltola, Democratic challenger, while benefiting from Majority Forward's spendingThe irony runs deep on both sides. Peltola is actively campaigning against dark money while outside groups spend on her behalf. Sullivan, meanwhile, has used the phrase "dark money" to attack his opponents — while accepting the support of a group with no donor transparency whatsoever.
Two Groups, Same Playbook
The structure is nearly identical on both sides: a 501(c)(4) "social welfare" nonprofit that can raise unlimited, anonymous funds, paired with a super PAC that can spend more aggressively but must disclose donors. The result is a layered system designed to maximize political impact while minimizing transparency.
| Detail | Last Frontier Action | Majority Forward |
|---|---|---|
| Type | 501(c)(4) nonprofit + companion super PAC | 501(c)(4) nonprofit |
| Side | Pro-Sullivan (Republican) | Pro-Peltola (Democratic) |
| Key figure | Brock Lowrance, former NRSC senior advisor | Linked to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) |
| Registered | Mountain Brook, Alabama | Washington, D.C. |
| Known spending | Six-figure digital & TV ad buy (exact total undisclosed) | $1M+ on ACA/health care ads (Nov. 2025); mid-six-figure buy on gas prices (Mar. 2026); Senate Majority PAC (affiliated) reserving $10.6M in TV time |
| Donor disclosure | None required | None required |
| Founding ties | Former Sullivan staffers; Hilcorp PR, cruise industry PR | Senate Democratic leadership network |
Last Frontier Action: A Closer Look
Despite its Alaska-first branding — a mountain logo, a star, the tagline "pro-America, pro-Alaska" — Last Frontier Action is not an Alaskan organization in any meaningful sense. It was incorporated in Alabama, is led by a Virginia-based Montana operative, and was founded by former Sullivan staffers with ties to industries that have direct financial interests in Sullivan's reelection.
The group's leader, Brock Lowrance, is one of the Republican Party's most prominent Senate campaign strategists. At the NRSC in 2024, he designed and executed a $100 million paid media effort that helped Republicans retake the Senate. He was later named a Resident Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics. In early 2025, he co-founded S2R Public Affairs, a DC-based firm, with two other former NRSC colleagues.
Where Each Candidate Stands
The two candidates have taken sharply different public positions on campaign finance — even as both benefit from outside spending they cannot legally control.
Dan Sullivan
- Publicly attacked Democratic outside groups running ads against him as "far-left-wing affiliated Democrat groups" running "blatantly false attack ads" — but framed as partisan attacks, not a principled stand against dark money
- Used "dark money" specifically to attack Alaska's ranked-choice voting system, calling it something dark money "installed" in Alaska
- In 2014, refused to sign a campaign disclosure pledge, with his spokesman calling it "disingenuous" — an early signal of his position on transparency
- Now supports a 2026 ballot measure to repeal RCV that would also eliminate Alaska's donor disclosure requirements passed by voters in 2020
- Benefits from Last Frontier Action's anonymous ad campaigns without calling for any transparency
- Outside group founded by former Sullivan staffers with oil and cruise industry ties
Mary Peltola
- Actively campaigns against dark money as a central platform plank
- Supports the DISCLOSE Act — requiring disclosure of donations over $10,000
- Backs a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United
- Benefits from Majority Forward's anonymous spending while criticizing the system
- Raised $8.9M in Q1 2026, with 95% of donations under $100
"Sullivan has never been in the ranked-choice voting scenario — which he characterized as something dark money installed in Alaska."
— Must Read Alaska, on Sullivan's announcement speechSullivan's "Dark Money" Attack — On Ranked-Choice Voting
Sullivan's use of the dark money label deserves closer scrutiny. When he announced his reelection bid in March 2025, the framing around his campaign noted that this would be his first race under ranked-choice voting — a system Sullivan has characterized as one installed by dark money. The 2020 ballot measure that enacted ranked-choice voting in Alaska also included tougher campaign finance disclosure requirements, which Sullivan and his allies now seek to repeal.
In April 2026, President Trump called Alaska's ranked-choice voting system "disastrous" and "very fraudulent" — without evidence — and specifically named Sullivan among the Alaska Republicans he praised for working to repeal it. Sullivan responded on social media, saying he was "proud to stand on principle for free and fair elections in Alaska." If the 2026 repeal ballot measure passes, it would eliminate not just ranked-choice voting and open primaries, but also the campaign finance disclosure requirements voters approved in 2020 — the very transparency rules that would make outside spending like Last Frontier Action's more visible to the public.
"A ballot initiative would repeal requirements to disclose the true source of contributions, as well as the state's top-four ranked-choice voting system — both approved by voters in 2020."
— OpenSecrets, on the 2026 Alaska repeal ballot measureIn other words: Sullivan invokes dark money to attack the voting system, while simultaneously supporting a ballot measure that would strip away donor disclosure rules — making dark money harder to track, not easier.
The Hypocrisy Problem — For Both Sides
The Alaska Senate race offers a textbook illustration of why campaign finance reform stalls in Washington: both parties use the same tools they publicly denounce, because unilaterally disarming is seen as political suicide.
Sullivan's silence on dark money is the simpler case. He has never advocated for transparency in outside spending, and his campaign benefits directly from a group built by his own former staffers. There is no contradiction between his stated positions and his actions — because he has stated no position at all.
Peltola's situation is more complex and politically riskier. She has made campaign finance reform a central campaign message, calling on voters to reject the influence of "Lower 48 special interests" in Alaska politics — while accepting the support of Majority Forward, a Washington D.C.-linked group spending mid-six figures in the state. She could, in theory, publicly ask Majority Forward to stand down. She has not done so.
The bottom line: dark money is legal, it's bipartisan, and in a race this competitive, neither side is likely to voluntarily give it up. The question for Alaska voters is whether they find that acceptable — and whether the candidates' positions on changing the system carry any weight when neither is willing to act on them unilaterally.
Posts
