LETTER: Don’t be fooled by the decoy, the real issue is dark money
Published 3:30 am Monday, August 3, 2026
In a recent column for the Juneau Empire, Win Gruening argued that the candidacy of so-called ‘Decoy Dan’ is a byproduct of ranked choice voting, and that to prevent more longshot or copycat candidates we need to repeal our elections system via Ballot Measure 2. But Gruening’s argument is itself a distraction. Voting yes on 2 will not stop copycat candidates from appearing on the ballot. It will only eliminate the disclosure laws that help keep our elections transparent.
Longshot candidates like Dan J. Sullivan are not on the ballot because of ranked choice voting (RCV) or open primaries, but because anyone who files a declaration of candidacy and pays a $100 fee gets a spot on the ballot. Alaska is the only state in the country that does not require state or federal candidates to submit voter petitions. The low barrier to entry, not open primaries, is why Alaska sees more unconventional candidates. To suggest otherwise is misleading.
The true-source disclosure rules up for repeal on Ballot Measure 2 are exactly the kind of protections against operative manipulation Gruening claims to be worried about. Open primaries and RCV are not the means by which partisan operatives influence our elections. If anything, closing primaries to nonpartisan and unaffiliated voters, which Ballot Measure 2 gives parties the power to do, will give these same party operatives free rein to hand-select the nominee, stripping that power from voters. Undisclosed dark money is the real means of influence, and that issue is on the ballot this November. These transparency laws at risk of repeal require anyone contributing more than $2,000 to reveal the true source of their money. They also implement tougher fines for people who break the law on purpose, and require that top contributors be listed in paid communications — so voters don’t have to go digging to get the information they need.
We know these dark money disclosure laws work, because we are seeing them in action right now. This July, Repeal Now, the group leading the repeal campaign, was accused of using a fraudulent Anchorage address to obscure its true source of funding from Wisconsin and of failing to properly disclose its major donors. How ironic that the campaign asking you to eliminate the law that forces donors to reveal their true source is right now accused of hiding its own.
Ballot Measure 2 is a package deal. Repeal RCV, and Alaskans also lose the transparency laws that let us see who’s actually paying to influence elections and lose the open primary that keeps power in the hands of voters instead of party insiders. This November, don’t be fooled by the RCV-decoy. Vote No on 2.
Jorden Nigro
