Billionaire Hilcorp owner chips in $25,000 to influence Alaska elections
The Alaska Public Offices Commission voted Thursday to not conduct an immediate investigation of Aurora Action Network to decide if the cash cow is headquartered in Bob Griffin’s house in Anchorage or in Wisconsin.
The commission said it would deal with the matter, which relates to a ballot measure scheduled for the November election, at its August 26 meeting. The initiative would end open primaries and ranked choice voting, as well as current rules that require transparency on donations.
The big bucks behind the Aurora Action Network are mostly from a few Outside billionaires who can’t vote in Alaska, with smaller donations from a few dozen Republicans in Alaska.
Texas billionaire Jeff Hildebrand, the owner of Hilcorp, gave $25,000 May 21 to influence the Alaska election process, while Wyoming billionaire Timothy Mellon gave $50,000 on May 6. Colorado oil man Bill Armstrong gave $10,000.
(That the polo-playing Hildebrand has chosen to insert himself directly in the Alaska election process just as the Legislature is debating closing the Hilcorp tax loophole is another reason why the loophole should be closed, correcting an error that has gone on for years because of failed leadership by Dunleavy.)
Texan Michael Rydin, who denies that Joe Biden was elected in 2020, chipped in $30,000.
Notable Alaska donors include: John Binkley, $10,000; Deena Bishop, $2,500; John Sturgeon, $2,000; Al Haynes, $10,000; Dave Cruz, $20,000; Tregarrick Taylor, $4,500; Stanley English, $10,000; James Fields, $10,000; Frontier Supply Inc., $10,000.
Yass, who is worth $84 billion, trails only George Soros and Elon Musk this year in the amount of money he is spending to influence elections across the nation.
The Aurora Action Network is the chief source of campaign cash for the group trying to get rid of open primaries and ranked choice voting in Alaska, Repeal Now.
By claiming the money supplier is headquartered in Griffin’s house—and is no longer headquartered in Wisconsin—Repeal Now can say on all of its ads that its largest donor is based in Anchorage, Alaska.
But Alaskans for Better Elections, which is defending the current election law and open primaries, says the group is not based in Griffin’s house on Cange Street.
Griffin, a retired Alaska Airlines pilot, is a longtime right-wing activist in Alaska and a member of the board of the Alaska Policy Forum.
In the APOC meeting Thursday, attorney Craig Richards, speaking for Repeal Now said that group has no control and no role in deciding what Aurora Action Network claims as its primary place of business.
It has to accept whatever Aurora Action Network says, Richards claimed.
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