By SUZANNE DOWNING
Sept. 15, 2026 — The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has formally added “independent” Alaska congressional candidate Bill Hill to its “Red to Blue” program, confirming that national Democrats have settled on Hill as their preferred challenger to Republican Congressman Nick Begich.
Hill was one of three candidates added Tuesday to the program, which provides favored candidates with strategic guidance, staff, training, and fundraising support. The additions bring the number of candidates in the program to 40.
“The three candidates added to our Red to Blue program today represent the very best of their communities — unbought, practical leaders who know what it takes to win in tough districts,” DCCC Chairwoman Suzan DelBene of Seattle said in a statement.
The description of Hill as “unbought” comes as his campaign and the super PAC built to elect him benefit from millions of dollars originating largely outside Alaska, including money routed through progressive organizations that refuse to disclose their original donors.
Hill identifies as an independent, but his adoption by the DCCC leaves little ambiguity about which party is behind his candidacy. The Alaska Democratic Party has also promoted Hill and hosted fundraising activity for him.
Democrats had their own declared candidate, Anchorage pastor Matt Schultz. But Schultz was forced to suspend his campaign before the Aug. 18 primary and endorse Hill. Schultz’s name remained on the ballot, where he finished behind both Begich and Hill.
Hill advanced to the general election alongside Begich, Schultz and Libertarian Jim McDermott. The final ballot changed after Schultz withdrew, allowing Democrat Eric Hafner, who is serving a federal prison sentence in New York, to move into the top four.
The maneuver follows a strategy Alaska Democrats have used successfully in legislative races: supporting candidates who run without the Democratic label and later organize with Democrats or Democrat-led coalitions. Hill will appear on the ballot as an independent even as the national organization dedicated to electing Democrats to the US House directs campaign resources toward his election.
The DCCC portrayed Hill as a commercial fisherman, former union construction worker and longtime educator. Hill served as superintendent of the Lake and Peninsula School District and the Bristol Bay Borough School District. This is his first campaign for elected office.
Hill faced Begich at the Kodiak fisheries debate last week. The appearance placed the first-time candidate opposite an incumbent who has spent his freshman term moving Alaska-related legislation through the House. The debate provided voters one of their first sustained opportunities to compare Hill directly with Begich on fisheries policy and the responsibilities of serving in Congress. Hill was lost at sea during the debate, clearly unprepared to face experienced and knowledgeable Nick Begich.
Hill’s elevation to the DCCC’s top recruitment program will bring still more national resources into the race. His committee, Bill Hill for Alaskans, reported approximately $1.34 million in receipts through July 29, according to the Federal Election Commission.
An examination of roughly $916,000 in itemized individual contributions found about $221,000 from Alaska and approximately $695,000 from other states. Roughly 76% of the itemized individual money came from outside Alaska.
California donors accounted for approximately $217,000, while New York donors contributed about $142,000. Other significant amounts came from Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington and additional states.
Hill’s reported contributors include New York billionaire investor Dirk Ziff, cryptocurrency investor Michael Novogratz, San Francisco investor Nat Simons, Massachusetts venture partner Joseph Alsop and California investor Gwendolyn Sontheim. Phoebe Gates, daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, also gave Hill the maximum individual contribution, as previously reported by The Alaska Story.
Many of the contributions were processed through ActBlue, the principal online fundraising platform used by Democratic candidates and progressive organizations.
That direct campaign money is separate from the spending by Wheel Dog PAC, a Washington, D.C.-based super PAC created in March and focused on supporting Hill. Its FEC reports showed more than $2.6 million in receipts through the latest available reporting period.
Wheel Dog received $400,000 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, $300,000 from Contours Inc. and $250,000 from the Global Impact Social Welfare Fund. The three transfers total $950,000.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund is a prominent progressive 501(c)(4) organization formerly managed as part of the Arabella Advisors network. Because it is organized as a social-welfare nonprofit, it generally does not publicly identify its donors. National reporting has documented previous contributions to the fund from the Open Society network founded by billionaire George Soros.
Contours is a similar 501(c)(4) nonprofit, formed in Delaware in late 2024 and headed by a former Arabella fiscal-sponsorship executive. The Global Impact Social Welfare Fund reported giving Contours $6.62 million during the preceding fiscal year before the two organizations separately contributed to Wheel Dog.
Hill has made opposition to corruption and the influence of wealthy interests part of his campaign message. Earlier reporting by The Alaska Story also examined the contrast between his working-class campaign language and his ownership interest in Bristol Bay Native Corp., a multibillion-dollar Alaska Native corporation.
The “unbought” candidate now enters the final weeks of the campaign with the Democratic Party’s national campaign operation behind him, a donor list dominated by Outside money and a single-purpose super PAC financed largely through progressive nonprofits whose original donors remain a secret to voters.
2 thoughts on “DCCC adopts independent Bill Hill for ‘Red to Blue’ program as national money pours into Alaska House race”
Old Hillbilly Bill needs to get a life. He’s a nobody with a nothing resume’. He’s going to get his ass wumped.
A hunter, a fisherman, a public school teacher. Sounds like a distressed Democrat without a job or any employment history in the private sector.