Photo: Justice Department’s Michael Heyman speaks at a press conference on Friday about the Decoy Dan investigation. Al Grillo photo.
By SUZANNE DOWNING
Nov. 1, 2026 – The 907 Initiative, a leftist advocacy organization already named in a federal election complaint involving the “Decoy Dan” campaign, is joining forces with the Alaska AFL-CIO for an election-eve press conference accusing federal investigators of intimidating political donors.
The event is scheduled for 10 am Monday, Nov. 2, outside the FBI’s Anchorage headquarters at 101 E. Sixth Ave. Organizers say Alaska AFL-CIO President Heidi Drygas, who was a commissioner of Labor under Gov. Bill Walker, and Petersburg resident Barry Bracken will speak, with attorney Emma Olson Sharkey available for legal questions. Sharkey is a partner at The Political Law Group and a nationally recognized ballot measure lawyer. She was a partner at Elias Law Group, the same group that represents Alaska Democratic Party and Mary Peltola.
Breaking: New York Times investigation ties Mary Peltola to Decoy Dan recruitment
The announcement is an effort to shift attention from the coordinated and well-funded recruitment of candidates to draw votes away from Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. The Democrats want to attack the conduct of investigators examining that operation.
“This feels like government overreach and taxpayer-funded interference in the election process,” Bracken said in the organizers’ statement.
The 907 Initiatives is one of the biggest dark money operations in Alaska. The Soros-linked Sixteen Thirty Fund has given the group nearly $1 million.
Bracken, 79, said FBI agents questioned him at his doorstep about his contribution to Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., the Petersburg challenger known widely as Decoy Dan, whose similar name has become a central controversy in Alaska’s Senate race. Bracken said he knew whom he was supporting.
According to the announcement, agents had visited at least four of the campaign’s 12 donors by Saturday. Those figures come from the press conference organizers’ press release.
The press notice describes the 907 Initiative as a nonprofit focused on government accountability. But the organization has its own connection to the decoy candidacy.
As The Alaska Story reported in September, Americans for Public Trust filed a Federal Election Commission complaint alleging illegal coordination between the Petersburg candidate’s campaign and the 907 Initiative.
Breaking: New FEC complaint alleges ‘Decoy Dan’ campaign coordinated with liberal 907 Initiative
The complaint focused on political consultant Amber Lee, who helped launch the challenger’s campaign while serving as a director and secretary of the nonprofit. It alleged that her overlapping roles connected the candidate to an organization spending heavily on advertising against the incumbent senator.
The group and Lee denied wrongdoing. Lee said she was an unpaid board member who did not manage its independent expenditures. Executive Director Aubrey Wieber has denied the organization was involved in her work for the challenger.
The organization’s political leanings are visible on its website. Featured projects include “Yes Man Dan,” criticizing Sen. Sullivan; a campaign against the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority; and its earlier advertising against former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson. It describes its vision as progressive and solicits contributions through ActBlue, the mechanism that Democrats raise money through.
The Alaska Story previously documented the group’s “Dunleavy Decline” campaign against the term-limited governor. Earlier reporting by Suzanne Downing at Must Read Alaska covered its 2022 complaint with the Alaska Public Interest Research Group against Dunleavy’s reelection operation, followed by its advertising and mail campaign publicizing allegations against Bronson in 2023.
Suzanne Downing: Who is behind the odd anti-Dunleavy ad campaign? And why?
Monday’s event therefore comes from an organization with a well-known and highly documented record of advocacy against Republican officeholders, including the incumbent whose opponent’s campaign is now under scrutiny.
Civil dismissal did not end criminal investigation
The announcement describes the dismissed federal civil lawsuit as “underpinning” the criminal investigation.
On Sunday, US District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed DOJ’s civil action seeking to delay certification under specified circumstances involving the two Sullivan candidates. She found the government had not established standing through a workable remedy that would preserve ballot secrecy. DOJ filed notice of appeal.
Her ruling did not determine whether anyone committed a crime in recruiting or financing a candidate. The separate criminal investigation continues.
The Department of Justice publicly confirmed that investigation Friday.
The 907 Initiative and AFL-CIO characterize the donor interviews as intimidation.
The organizations are also accusing the Dunleavy administration of suppressing rural voting.
Their announcement claims at least 25 advertised rural voting sites remained closed through the two-week early voting period. It contrasts 16 days of urban voting access with one day in some rural communities.
Those figures are in dispute, with several of the noted locations opened at various times for absentee in-person voting. There is no requirement that they are open and if the state can’t find employees to staff them in rural areas, they may have irregular hours or not open at all; this is typical of rural Alaska.
The Division of Elections publishes location-specific schedules for early and absentee in-person voting, along with a separate list of Election Day polling places.
Monday’s press conference is yet another chapter in the drama involving the massive Decoy Dan operation and the coordinated campaign to deceive Alaska voters. But this is the Democrats way of playing defense — taking a press conference to the front steps of the Anchorage FBI office in downtown.
3 thoughts on “907 Initiative, named in ‘Decoy Dan’ complaint, plans FBI doorstep protest with Alaska AFL-CIO”
“………This feels like government overreach and taxpayer-funded interference in the election process………”
Oh, this feels like the Muller Investigation?
Good. Feel it.
Indeed, Reggie.
.
What’s good for the goose is good for the anti-binary-non-cis-gendered gander.
But we all know that, in their overweaning self-righteousness and blinding arrogance, radical leftists can NEVER see their own innumerable flaws, faults and sins.
What are the Democrats trying to hide? You KNOW they are hiding material evidence. The FBI didn’t descend into Anchorage to go skiing. Search warrants, please. Computers. Cellphones. Emails. Cellphone records. GPS. Cellphone tower triangulation. If this is a criminal investigation, all of the aforementioned is in play. Democrats are like the mafia. Once you “catch” them, they all turn into rats and tell on each other. Criminal investigations are so much fun. The FBI badge will not be intimidated by two-bit lawyers for the left.