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'Overjoyed.'

ICWA upheld, the race for Anchorage mayor, the video of the latest creep to be booted from the Dunleavy administration and the campaign finance initiative.

Matt Acuña Buxton
Matt Acuña Buxton
10 min read
'Overjoyed.'

Happy Friday, Alaska!

In this edition: It’s been a week! The U.S. Supreme Court delivered another surprise when it upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act, the race for Anchorage mayor got a little too crowded for the liking of some, the Jeremy Cubas video has come out, and a new initiative seeking to curtail unlimited campaign spending in Alaska has been filed. There’s also the reading list and, of course, some summery weekend watching.

Current mood: 😎

‘Overjoyed.’

beige concrete building under blue sky during daytime
Photo by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash

After upholding critical portions of the Voting Rights Act last week, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered another shocker this week with a ruling upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act. The landmark legislation has been on the books for several decades, giving families and tribal families preference in placing Native children into foster care and adoptive homes. The law has long rankled far-right conservatives and is one of the most visible flashpoints over tribal sovereignty issues.

The case—which centers around a non-Native family’s attempt to adopt a Native child in Texas—had been closely watched in Alaska, home to more than 200 federally recognized tribes. More than 150 of those tribes and other tribal organizations signed onto an amicus brief with the court supporting ICWA last year.

The decision wasn’t anticipated, given conservative opposition to ICWA and the U.S. Supreme Court’s deeply conservative streak. Instead, it’s a strong recognition of tribal sovereignty, the historical injustices of how Native people have been treated by the state and federal governments and the importance of measures like this. It ultimately sidesteps the questions of racial priority brought up by opponents to ICWA, instead finding that the law is centered more on political connections than purely racial ones.

“Often, Native American Tribes have come to this Court seeking justice only to leave with bowed heads and empty hands,” wrote Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in a concurring opinion. “But that is not because this Court has no justice to offer them. Our Constitution reserves for the Tribes a place—an enduring place—in the structure of American life. … In adopting the Indian Child Welfare Act, Congress exercised that lawful authority to secure the right of Indian parents to raise their families as they please; the right of Indian children to grow in their culture; and the right of Indian communities to resist fading into the twilight of history. All of that is in keeping with the Constitution’s original design.”

The ruling was celebrated in Alaska, including with a rare joint statement between the Alaska Federation of Natives, ANCSA Regional Association, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Alaska Native Justice Center, Alaska Native Village Corporation and Association of Alaska Housing Authorities.

“Today’s ruling protects what tribes and our families have always known, connection to culture and identity is critical to the health and well-being of our children, families, and communities,” said ANTHC President and CEO Valerie Nurr’araluk Davidson, who also served briefly as Alaska’s lieutenant governor, in a prepared statement. “People will do the most extraordinary things for the right reasons. Children, family, and community are always the right reasons. We celebrate today’s landmark decision as tribes continue doing the incredible work to ensure services and programs meet the needs of our families.”

Alaska’s Congressional delegation also welcomed the decision. Alaska U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan signed onto an amicus brief of lawmakers supporting the legislation. U.S. Rep. Mary Pelota, who hadn’t taken office when that brief was filed, also released a statement supporting the decision.

“I am overjoyed that the Supreme Court has affirmed both the sovereignty of tribal governments and the irreplaceable bonds of Indigenous family,” Rep. Peltola said in a prepared statement. “This decision provides certainty and security for children and families all across this country and respects the basic principles of self-governance for Native American tribes. This is an important step in continuing the process of intergenerational healing from long histories of separation and loss and a victory for tribal advocates everywhere. I look forward to strengthening ICWA and making sure that children everywhere are able to stay with their families and loved ones.”

Doubts over Dunleavy

Throughout the process, however, the administration of Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy was a significant question mark. The administration neither signed on in support of the law nor confirmed to tribal groups it would continue implementing the general provisions of ICWA, as some other states had done, in the event the law was overturned and the issue of adoptions was handed over to the states.

That’s something Tlingit and Haida Tribal Council President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson struck on in the organization’s response to the ruling. In a prepared statement, Peterson noted he was “disappointed there wasn’t more support and proactive action from the State of Alaska.”

“I feel like we can all finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing the constitutionality of this landmark law has been upheld,” Peterson said. “Alaska tribes need reassurance from the Office of the Governor that the State of Alaska will honor the intentions of ICWA and reaffirm its commitment to protecting the well-being and best interest of Alaska Native children and families and recognizing the inherent rights of tribal nations to be involved in child welfare matters involving their citizens.”

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy did not personally respond to the ruling. Instead, Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor released a statement that the current cooperation between Alaska and tribes will continue unchanged.

The Alaska Memo by Matt Buxton is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Three’s a crowd?

Former Anchorage Rep. Chris Tuck entered the race for Anchorage mayor this week, joining a field that includes extreme-right Mayor Dave Bronson and moderate former Anchorage Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance. It’s an interesting development that pretty much immediately sparked fears of another crowded race that Bronson could capitalize on his way to a second term in office.

Tuck left the Legislature heading into the 2022 election after the Alaska Redistricting Board put him and progressive Democratic Rep. Andy Josephson into the same district, one of several incumbent pairings in the city. While he’s a strong advocate of labor, Tuck has the unusual distinction of being one of the few anti-abortion Democrats to have recently held elected office. That’s sometimes made for uneasy moments along the way that will sour some people. Still, he’s had some good moments on the House floor advocating for progressive causes.

There’s already a fair bit of organization around LaFrance, who left the assembly earlier this year with a reputation as a competent and hard-working centrist who served as an important counter to the incompetence of the Bronson administration. She has first-hand knowledge of what’s broken and what it’ll take to fix it, and it seems like the early momentum is around her.

While it’s always fun to twist ourselves into knots about races that are a long way away, it’s a race that’s still a long way away. Before we announce anyone a spoiler for anyone else before we get a clearer picture of what the election—which will be held in April of next year—looks like. Also, there’s always a run-off.

The Jeremy Cubas video comes out

The video that Jeremy “Divorce is worse than rape” Cubas, the latest creep to get the boot from the Dunleavy administration after easy-to-check information was finally checked, filmed for dinners with the right-wing Alaska Family Council has come out, and it’s about what you’d expect. The video was released thanks to a records request from Alaska Public Media’s Nat Herz as part of the outlet’s ongoing investigation into Cubas’ behavior that included a medieval podcast with some disturbing ideas.

A deeply partisan message, Cubas licks his lips and whispers a screed against the “seemingly demonically possessed pro-abortionists,” suggesting the governor plans to use the existing-in-name-only Office of Family and Life to reshape Alaska’s culture and beliefs.

Of course, as with all things related to Cubas so far, the governor’s office and Jim Minnery of the Alaska Family Council seem to be claiming ignorance about Cubas’ beliefs and words, with Minnery telling Alaska Public Media that there were just “rumblings” about the charged language. It should be noted that this video and dinner were hosted several weeks before Cubas’ actions came to light.

Why it matters: The governor’s pivot to reframing the “pro-life” label to a “pro-family” label that featured in his State of the State address is part of a national trend of conservatives trying to distance themselves from the increasingly toxic reality of anti-abortion politics in a post-Roe world where these ideas can be finally be cruelly implemented. While the governor’s focus would have you thinking he’s turned to focus on pro-family things like child care, health care or post-partum Medicaid coverage, Cubas’ message should serve as a reminder that their goals haven’t changed, just the messaging. And, even then, they can’t help themselves.

Also, if he was comfortable enough to talk like this in a video representing the governor’s office, he was comfortable enough to speak like this in whatever informal office meetings they were having. That the governor, his administration or his surrogate in Minnery were clueless is, frankly, laughable.

Campaign finance initiative filed

closeup photo of 100 US dollar banknotes
Photo by Pepi Stojanovski on Unsplash

Note: My podcast co-host, Pat Race, is a board member of Alaskans for Better Elections and his name is on the initiative. While we chat about many things, I didn’t even know about this initiative until I saw other coverage about it!

The primary group supporting and defending Alaska’s open primaries and ranked-choice voting system is working to bring back a more traditional element of Alaska’s election system: contribution limits.

The new initiative, which was filed with the Division of Elections in May by Alaskans for Better Elections members, would update the state’s contribution limit laws that a federal judge struck down as unconstitutional before the 2022 elections. The initiative would institute higher limits than the ones struck down. Those limits would be tied to inflation, which the federal judge raised as an issue with the original law.

The judge’s ruling found that the old limits instituted in 2006 by voter initiative were so low that they infringed on free speech but suggested that higher limits that keep pace with inflation may be constitutional.

Efforts to institute those limits through the Legislature have fallen flat. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has been vocally opposed to the return of campaign contribution limits, reaping massive direct contributions during his 2022 campaign.

Here’s how the limits would work:

  • A $2,000 limit on how much individuals can contribute to a non-gubernatorial candidate during an election cycle (up from $500 per year)
  • A $4,000 limit on how much non-political party groups can contribute to a non-gubernatorial candidate during an election cycle (up from $1,000 per year)
  • A $4,000 limit on how much individuals can contribute to a gubernatorial campaign during an election cycle (up from $1,000 per year to candidates for governor and lieutenant governor)
  • An $8,000 limit on how much groups can contribute to a gubernatorial campaign during an election cycle (up from $2,000 per year)
  • A $5,000 limit on how much individuals can contribute to a political party or another group
  • A $5,000 limit on non-political party group contributions to a political party or another group

What to watch for

The initiative could be a big deal for the 2024 election, adding a renewed focus on the importance of election oversight and reforms. That could be particularly crucial with an initiative to repeal ranked-choice voting and open primaries also working its way to the ballot. What will be more critical in the near term is just how much shenanigans the Dunleavy administration plans to make with the measure.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom has until July 4 to determine whether the initiative is legal and can be cleared to begin gathering signatures. While this measure is relatively straightforward, the Dunleavy administration hasn’t been shy about playing with this process in the past. It dragged out the 2020 initiative to raise oil taxes and rejected the effort to recall the governor. Both attempts were nixed by the courts, which found the administration had been unfairly playing politics.

Still, a court loss or three hasn’t stopped the administration in the past. And even an unsuccessful roadblock could still waste several months of critical signature-gathering time that the group will need if they hope to get the 26,705 signatures required to have the initiative appear on the 2024 ballot.

What’s also worth keeping in mind is the Legislature could preempt the initiative. The Legislature could remove the initiative from the ballot by passing a similar bill. While getting finance limits into law one way or another would be a win, the Legislature could write their bill in a way so it doesn’t affect the 2024 cycle at all and then, if they have the votes, repeal it before they ever do go into effect (which they did with the minimum wage bill in the 2000s and tried to do in 2014).

Stay tuned!

The Alaska Memo by Matt Buxton is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Reading list

Weekend watching

Somewhere down the YouTube rabbit hole, I found this fun video about guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka whose music is just delightful fun.

Have a nice weekend, y’all!

The Alaska Memo by Matt Buxton is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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Matt Acuña Buxton

Matt is a longtime journalist and longtime nerd for Alaska politics and policy. Alaska became his home in 2011, and he's covered the Legislature and more in newspapers, live threads and blogs.

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