In terms of fundraising, the “no” side of the Prop 1 on the April 3 municipal ballot is outperforming the “yes” side, according to the required financial reporting made to the Alaska Public Offices Commissions in mid-February.
How much of a financial lead the “no” side has over the “yes” side depends on how one classifies economic support.
If you gauge fundraising success only by dollars in the bank, then the “no” side represented mostly by Fair Anchorage has a 4 to 1 lead over the “yes” side, represented by Alaska Family Action. If you determine financial support by all types of giving – including in-kind giving – then according to APOC reports filed by Feb. 1, 2018 covering financial activity in the time period between July 7, 2017 and Feb. 1, 2018, the “no” side is winning the fundraising portion of this controversial ballot question by a margin of 13.5 to 1.
Fair Anchorage – the group pushing for “no” votes on Prop 1 – reports more than $415,000 of income between July 7, 2017 and Feb. 1, 2018. Of that, approximately $124,000 is cash on hand in the bank; cash that Fair Anchorage says came mostly from Alaskans – about 92 percent.
The Yes on 1 – Protect Our Privacy group – which seeks to restrict bathroom and intimate public spaces to usage according to the gender identified on a birth certificate – reported $31,000 cash from Jan. 12, 2018 – when the “Protect our Privacy” group was formed, according to Kim Minnery, treasurer – through Feb. 15, 2018.
Jim Minnery, president of the AFA, acknowledged the financial differences on Feb. 15 to a group gathered at the Petroleum Club to hear a presentation titled, “God and Transgender.”
He likened it to a Biblical “David and Goliath” situation in which Alaska Family Action – the same group that successfully fought against the 2010 Prop 5 that if approved by voters would have extended citywide anti-discrimination protections to sexual orientation and transgender identity – was significantly outspent yet still won with the voters.
“We are outgunned financially but we just keep finding those smooth stones,” Jim Minnery shared a couple weeks later when being interviewed regarding the APOC reporting. “We will find that smooth stone with Prop 1 as well.”
Jim Minnery said Yes on 1 has received additional financial support since APOC’s Feb. 15 deadline for filing campaign contributions and expenditures for the period ending Feb. 1. That information will be detailed in reports filed according to APOC requirements, he said. Kim Minnery said on Feb. 27 that she working on an additional filing detailing between $4,000 and $5,000 on individual donations received post the Feb. 15 deadline.
Yes on 1 supporters said their side is receiving financial support from voters who do not wish to encounter members of the opposite sex in a public intimate space such as a restroom.
On the “no” side, Kari Ward, campaign manager of Fair Anchorage, said the side in favor of not changing usage requirements for public bathrooms and other intimate public spaces is receiving more financial support from voters that want Anchorage to be known as a welcoming city and not one with discrimination against transgender people.
An analysis of financial reporting to the Alaska Public Offices Commission on both sides of the Prop 1 debate indicates various organizations are lining up against and for the controversial ballot measure as one might expect along conservative and liberal leaning lines.
Those fighting the passage of Prop 1 have groups such as Alaska’s Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Alaska on their side as well as several Lower 48-based groups donating staff time and services to Fair Anchorage, according to APOC.
These Outside organizations making regular contributions to the lobbying group Fair Anchorage include Freedom for All Americans, the Human Rights Campaign and the National Center for Transgender Equity, according to online APOC reports. All three are based in Washington, D.C.
Of the three listed in the above paragraph, the group Freedom for All Americans has invested the highest in-kind dollar amount in the no campaign against Prop 1. The bulk of its in-kind giving of nearly $124,000 is staff time with $15,000 included in that number for website design, creation and implementation and the staff time associated with that specific task, according to APOC records.
The Human Rights Campaign is reported at having a bit more than $25,000 as in-kind giving of staff time and travel to Fair Anchorage and the National Center for Transgender Equality is credited with in-kind giving of $2,000 - $1,000 of that being staff travel; $500 each for Lyft vouchers and storytelling training.
The organization Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest & Hawaii with its headquarters in Seattle is reported to have done in-kind giving totaling nearly $13,500 between staff time donated and phone bank usage and minutes.
The “yes” side of the Prop 1 campaign has also received funding from Outside.
On Feb. 9, $10,000 was received from the Family Policy Alliance in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is the public policy partner with Focus on The Family.
If coffee shop talk and letters to the editor in local newspapers are any gauge, Alaskans, in general, don’t cotton well to having Outside groups influencing the Last Frontier.
But both Minnery and Ward defend the help from Outside groups, stating that these action groups have their finger on the national pulse of issues such as transgender rights and public bathroom usage.
Both say the issue will ultimately be decided by Alaskans who send in their ballots in the municipality’s first mail-in election.
Another interesting tidbit from the Feb. 15 APOC reporting from the “no” side: Nearly $1,000 spent on food – mostly pizza.
“Everybody really seems to like cheese pizza,” she said.
Ward said about three-fourths of the monies spent on food is for volunteers. The rest is for support and training meetings within the transgender community.
Financial reporting for Protect Our Privacy was prepared by Kim Minnery, treasurer.
Financial reporting for Fair Anchorage was prepared by Paula Delaiarro, apart from her position as the financial officer for the Ship Creek Group.
APOC reports can be found online at www.doa.alaska.gov/apoc.
