Dunbar's right-wing radical challenger reports big campaign contributions

Here we go again!

Stephanie Taylor, a longtime Save Anchorage member turned right-wing radical whose gross unpopularity led her to enlist services from outside Alaska in a hail-mary bid to oust East Anchorage Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar, has filed her campaign disclosure report with the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC).

Taylor's campaign reported income totaling $109,913.18 and $43,413.27 in expenses with $66,499.91 closing cash on hand. Perhaps curiously, Taylor's campaign did not report any outstanding debt.

Listed among her campaign expenses, the Save Anchorage member shelled out a whopping $18,000 to Mobibiz Marketing, a social media and digital marketing firm owned by Joseph Lurtsema, the former social media director of the Alaska Republican Party who created the Save Anchorage group in July 2020.

Lurtsema, who remains an administrator for the controversial group, now regularly shares campaign posts for Taylor and far-right assembly candidates Liz Vasquez and Kathy Henslee in the hidden Facebook group.

Everyone's favorite right-wing consulting firm, Axiom Strategies, also makes several appearances in Taylor's campaign disclosure report in the form of payouts for logo studies, travel reimbursement, and business cards.

But very interesting to note is that Taylor's disclosure also identifies a $2,400.00 split payment to i360, a for-profit company Politico said in 2014 was started by a former adviser to John McCain’s presidential campaign after he lost to former President Barack Obama in 2008.

i360 later merged with a Koch-funded data nonprofit and the Koch-affiliated Freedom Partners eventually became an investor. Politico also reported in 2014 that i360 maintained a database of over 250 million 18+ adults and dubbed it the "Koch's data mine."

As we know, individuals associated with Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the libertarian conservative political advocacy group funded by Koch, have been seen in the Save Anchorage group. Recently, Jonathan Quick, a failed Dunleavy appointee, sometimes Must Read Alaska podcast co-host and former chief of staff to Mayor Charlie Pierce has shared AFP content to Save Anchorage.

RELATED: Americans for Prosperity sets sail for ‘final destination’ in Anchorage-based disinformation group

Contributors to Taylor's campaign include Must Read Alaska Editor Suzanne Downing, ousted gubernatorial chief of staff, former Republican Tea Party Chair and behind-the-scenes operative Tuckerman Babcock, biblical values Anchorage school board candidate Mark Anthony Cox, Pastor and self-described Prophet Cheston McCrea, religious zealot and anti-LGBT crusader Jim Minnery and someone named Julie Allard who claims to be an Anchorage Assemblyperson!

Today's disclosure by Taylor's campaign is indeed a big haul, but according to individuals in the Dunbar campaign, his disclosure report, due to be filed with APOC later tonight, will likely report larger campaign income than Taylor's. Money isn't everything, however.

In last year’s mayoral race, Dunbar won his own district by only 5.33% and with Taylor reporting over $100,000 in contributions, Progressives are going to have to show up and turn out the vote to keep Save Anchorage member Stephanie Taylor off the assembly.

You can learn more about Dunbar's campaign here.