Corporate donors spend heavily to aid Murkowski

An outside group working to boost incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski's write-in bid in Alaska's hotly contested Senate race raised all of its funds from just eight corporate donors—all Alaska Native companies.

In a report filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission, Alaskans Standing Together reported raising $790,000 through Sept. 30. None of that money came via individual donors--a rare development for outside political committees that typically solicit individual checks in order to push claims of "grassroots" support. AST's biggest donor: $140,000 from Arctic Slope Regional Corp., which has lobbied to expand drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

AST has already spent the $790,000 it raised—and more. As The Upshot reported last week, AST reported a $600,000 ad expenditure on Murkowski's behalf last week. On Thursday, the group filed notice of another $300,000 expenditure. That was followed by another $115,000 on Saturday.

Technically, AST is not allowed formally to endorse Murkowski or coordinate with her campaign, but the group's website makes crystal-clear who it is pulling for in the race.

That has prompted complaints by Murkowski's GOP rival Joe Miller, who was the subject of an AST attack ad last week. On Friday, he accused AST donors of using money from federal contracts that had been awarded with help from Murkowski to fund the attacks. Murkowski, in turn, raised questions about the nearly $1 million in outside ads that have been run on Miller's behalf by supporters including the Tea Party Express.

While polling is difficult in the race, since Murkowski is running as a write-in candidate, recent surveys have found Miller and Murkowski virtually tied. Those figures, combined with the AST cash, prompted the Tea Party Express to send an appeal to its donors Friday night, urging them to contribute on Miller's behalf. "Friends, we worked too hard, spent too much money, and accomplished what many thought was unthinkable in helping Joe Miller win the Republican nomination for Senate in Alaska," the message said. "We can't let that all go to waste and lose this race."

At the same time, Murkowski is finally preparing to air an ad featuring the endorsement of former Sen. Ted Stevens. The spot was filmed just before Stevens died in a plane crash in August, and Murkowski chose not to air it in the final days of the GOP primary. The spot features an intro from Stevens' daughter, Sue Covich, explaining why her family wants the ad to be seen, before segueing into footage of the late senator praising Murkowski.

"I trust Lisa and her commitment to keep fighting for us," Stevens says, in footage taped July 30. "She's working for Alaska every single day. We need Lisa and the seniority she's earned now more than ever."

You can watch the ad here:

(Photo of Murkowski: Michael Dinneen/AP)